Stringent environmental targets for Luton Airport's expansion plans will prove challenging to achieve, according to its new chair, despite his enthusiasm for the project's economic benefits.
Government ministers gave the green light to boost capacity at Luton earlier this year, hot on the heels of approving a colossal Universal Studios theme park and resort in neighbouring Bedford, as reported by .
Lord John Hutton, the former Labour cabinet minister and peer tasked with overseeing Luton's growth, declared that both ventures would usher in a "new era of economic prosperity for everyone in the area" and described their importance as difficult to overstate.
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Speaking to City AM, he highlighted the employment opportunities: "There are tens of thousands of jobs that are going to be created here," and added, "New jobs, new careers, you know, you couldn't really make it up. It's a tremendously exciting opportunity."
Luton joins several London airports pushing forward with ambitious plans to significantly increase passenger throughput over the coming decades.
The north east London hub, which operates under Luton Council's ownership via its economic development arm Luton Rising, anticipates passenger numbers will surge to 32 million annually by 2043.
Projections indicate the scheme could inject an additional £1.5 billion into the economy whilst generating up to 11,000 employment opportunities.
Sustainability targets 'not easy'
Lord Hutton acknowledged the significant hurdles that the project still faces, particularly the stringent sustainability criteria set by its Development Consent Order (DCO).
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He remarked on the difficulty of meeting these demands: "That's the nature of the beast in a sense, because we all know we've got to try and balance this equation."
He recognised the public's desire for more flights against environmental concerns: "More people want to fly, but we're all concerned about the net-zero impact of that, and I think the DCO for Luton gives us a really clear mandate for how we can do that. It's not going to be easy."
The expansion of the airport is contingent on a substantial rise in the use of local public transport. Lord Hutton referred to this as one of the key commitments: "That's going to be one of the real conserstone commitments," and he mentioned it as part of the broader effort to expand London's airports sustainably.
He praised the existing public transport links at Luton: "Anyone who has used Luton recently will appreciate the amazing public transport assets we have," and stressed the responsibility to promote public transport use among passengers as numbers grow: "As we expand numbers, it's down to us to encourage passengers to use public transport."
Another challenge is renewing the long-standing public-private partnership at the airport. Negotiations are currently underway involving the management, Luton Airport's shareholders AENA and Infrabridge, and the local council.
Despite these challenges, Hutton expressed confidence that all necessary elements were aligned for progress: "We've got the world's leading airport operators who are well invested and who can take the DCO forward. We've got a very ambitious local authority as well."