Luton Still Number One

London Luton Airport is forecast to handle around 20,000 corporate movements this year, making it the U.K.'s number-one entry point in this category. "We've got 50 percent of the London corporate aircraft handling market, and I don't see it being squeezed for another 20 to 30 years," said managing director Paul Kehoe.

Asked about the challenge from TAG at Farnborough (forecast -- 15,000 to 16,000 movements), Kehoe replied, "I'm sure they will have a go at taking business away from us. Their facility is very impressive, but in terms of access to London, customers are voting with their feet and coming here. Farnborough has significant constraints in terms of their upper limit on movement numbers. We haven't, and, unlike Farnborough, are operational 24 hours per day."

"We are not at NBAA this year," said Kehoe, "but we'll be on board in 2003, actively marketing ourselves."

The two FBOs of Signature Flight Support and Metro Business Aviation dominate Luton's corporate movements, with about 99 percent of the market between them. Signature says that its movements are forecast to be in the region of 13,500, and Metro's 6,500, this year.

Show News asked Kehoe if he thought Luton corporate movements would ever be restricted by more airline and charter traffic. "No, we are using less than one-third of the runway's current capacity with 25,000 corporate general aviation movements per year. The capacity of a single runway in the southeast of England [according to government figures] is about 240,000, so we have plenty of headroom."

"We are not seeing large growth in terms of corporate aircraft numbers at the moment, but we certainly have an increase in their size. Both Signature and Metro are trading up -- with a lot more Gulfstream Vs, Global Expresses and Boeing 737/ BBJs around.

Kehoe said that investment is being pumped into the airport as well as into the two FBOs. "We are in the process of building three new Boeing 767 stands that will hold four 737/BBJ-size aircraft when not in use by the airlines." He explained that plans are also in hand to reclaim one-and-a-half stands currently used by EasyJet's temporary maintenance facility. "We are planning to pour more concrete and clean up ramp space in front of the passenger terminal. We also still have plenty of land available within the red line to build more ramp space," he added.

The airport management has applied for a small extension to Luton's northwestern FIR and hopes that permission from the CAA will be granted within the next 18 months to two years. The new airspace would allow a straighter route to the north of Luton turning around Leighton Buzzard toward the runway. Airport authorities say that this would end the present system in which "arrivals have to transit in an S-shape pattern across Luton heading southwesterly toward Hemel Hempstead to finally turn over an area in the vicinity of Whipsnade," Kehoe said. Public consultation is ongoing with local residents and general aviation pilots who are fighting the proposals.

By Mike Vines