Luton Airport is located a short distance from Junction 10 of the M1 motorway. Geographically I'll estimate it as being 40 miles north of the centre of London, and around 20 miles south from Milton Keynes and Northampton.
It is actually known as London-Luton airport, this not something I realised until I used said airport for the first time recently, I suppose this makes it easier for International visitors to identify the airport as being one close to London, although is certainly more out of the way than the other London ports.
Upon arrival to Luton there is a simple colour coded signpost system which directs you to the parking you need, or alternatively you be just dropping off, or picking up. Either way it is simple to get to the right part of the site!
Depending on length of your trip, or cash available, you can choose from short stay parking (under 24 hours), long stay parking (over 24 hours), long stay prebooked parking, or executive parking.
I used the standard long stay system. You take a ticket on entry, get a bus to the terminal and pay the fee on return.
The current cost of long stay parking is £6.90 per 24 hours or part of. You pay for this upon return to Luton Airport, either in the Terminal building or in the car park. I'd recommend using the machines inside, as most people use the ones in the car park!
The check in hall is large and spacious, as they tend to be, with various booking offices at the rear of the hall. Included amongst these is the easyJet office, as they are based out of Luton. Many other large name operators are available too, mostly the ones that operate throughout the UK. This ensures there is someone on hand to deal with ticket problems and such.
The departures area is well signposted from the check-in hall and as you would expect a security check must be passed before you can browse the many shops and eateries!
Inside departures there is everything you would expect, a tax-free shop (only tax-free if you are flying out of the EU), newsagents, Dixons, clothes shops, underwear shops, a bar, and a selection of restaurants and café style retailers. As I only had 30 minutes before departure I didn’t have time to note the names of the retailers! Needless to say there is a good selection available.
I had no trouble finding a seat to check my text messages whilst I waited for my flight to be called, although the place was busy. I used the toilet before I flew and the standard of these was acceptable, although nothing exceptional.
The departures area has the typical screens displaying flight information, and there are plenty of them scattered around for ease of use.
Overall I was pleased with the whole airport experience. It didn’t have anything that made me think “oh yeah that’s a great idea” (such as web terminals for example!) but it is a functional, clean and appeared to be a well-managed airport.
On my return to the UK the buses to take you from plane – arrivals are plentiful so there wasn’t a need to cram 150 people on one bus! I have only flew from Luton once as I touched upon earlier, so whilst my time at Luton was a pleasant one, I will bear in mind a possible Ciao update (if necessary!) when I have to use the airport again in a couple of weeks time.
Al Whysall 2001.
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
We had plenty of time on our hands to notice the retailers, unfortunately they were all shut, including the hot food facilities, so exploring them was most definitely not an option - was very disappointed having travelled all night to get there - Cardiff has more 24 hour facilities.
Sue
janehammill 23.04.2001 23:16
most useful op,I havent used Luton for more than 20 years! sounds like its improved somewhat although the parking is expensie as its £5.75 at Gatwick,cheers jane
NH Hotels, the hotel chain leader in Europe, with more than 300 hotels in 20 countries in Europe, Latin America and Africa. Enter into our web site and find the best available tariff at all times
Apr 15th, 2001
very helpful by (95%):
helpful by (5%):
