Luton Airport expansion plans approved by transport secretary

Credit: pilotcareernews.com

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Claims of ‘environmental concerns’ have been overruled. Suffocating tourism has been deemed a poor political option, despite the government’s obsession with net zero policies and the usual objections of climate miserablists.
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The expansion of Luton Airport has been approved by the transport secretary, reports Sky News.

The decision by Heidi Alexander to rubber-stamp the plans, which are for a new terminal rather than a runway, comes despite the Planning Inspectorate recommending she reject the move over environmental concerns.

The government had been considering whether to expand the airport as a means to boost UK growth, following a similar decision to give the green light to a third runway at Heathrow at the beginning of the year.

Luton Airport, the UK’s fifth busiest airport last year, wants to increase its annual cap on passenger numbers from 18 million to 32 million by the mid-2040s, allowing its runway to be used for 77,000 more flights per year compared with last year.

In 2024, 16.9 million passengers travelled through the airport on 132,000 flights.
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Johann Beckford, senior policy adviser at Green Alliance, said it was “a bad case of déjà vu”.

He added: “Doubling passenger and flight numbers will increase emissions, air pollution and noise.

“This latest misguided project does more to undermine UK climate credibility than it does to expand the economy as, once again, the growth impact of the expansion is likely to be overstated.

“With almost 90% of Luton flights taken for leisure, this decision gives priority boarding to British tourists taking their money out of the country to spend abroad.”

Full report here.
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Image credit: pilotcareernews.com