LLA records 27.7% growth in passengers and introduces 6 new routes

• 27.7% growth in passenger numbers in February compared to last year
• Six new routes to be launched in March
• Growth driven by increasing popularity of City breaks

London Luton Airport (LLA) carried over 870,000 passengers in February, a 27.7% increase compared to the same period last year, marking 23 consecutive months of growth at the airport.

Growth has been driven in part by the popularity of European city breaks. The number of travellers flying to Copenhagen more than doubled in comparison with the same month last year, while over 50% more passengers flew to Rome and a third more travelled to Zurich.

Travellers from LLA are benefiting from an ever-expanding choice of routes. This month alone will see the launch of six new routes from the airport:

• Vueling will launch its first services from LLA to Amsterdam and Barcelona
• Wizz Air will introduce routes to two new destinations in Lithuania: Kaunas and Palanga
• easyJet will now offer flights between LLA and Jersey
• Blue Air will begin operating four flights a week to Turin, Italy

Six further new routes have already been confirmed for the summer schedule, including two with new airline partners, Transavia who begin flights to Paris Orly and Adria Airways who will serve Pristina in Kosovo.

To meet demand, LLA is currently undergoing a £110m development project to increase annual capacity by 50% from 12 to 18 million passengers by 2020.

The transformation will deliver a complete redesign of the terminal to create a friendly and efficient passenger experience. Exciting new shopping and dining options, expanded security search, baggage reclaim and immigration facilities and major upgrades to transport links are just some of the improvements currently being delivered.

Nick Barton, CEO of LLA, said:

“LLA is continuing to grow at an astounding pace. The airport’s great range of destinations, with frequent flights that serve both business and leisure passengers, is central to our appeal.”

“Creating strong public transport connections is key in allowing us to meet the need for capacity expansion. That’s why we are delighted that Luton Borough Council has this week supported our vision to increase the number of fast trains serving the airport to four per hour, in line with the service levels enjoyed by other London airports.

“With a journey time of just 20 minutes between London St Pancras and Luton Airport Parkway, four fast trains an hour will more than double the number of passengers travelling to the airport by public transport.”

Visit www.transforminglla.com for details of the improvements.

• LLA carried 879,140 passengers in February 2016, an increase of 27.7% on the previous year.
• The total load factor over the month was 81.5%.
• General Aviation passenger numbers rose by 4.9% compared to February 2015.
• Cargo carried at LLA rose to 2,275 tonnes, an increase of 14.3% compared with February 2015.

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