Luton DART and Luton Airport Parkway Updates

[43066]

Or you can just fly from Heathrow...

By Ryanair, Wizz Air and EasyJet?!

 

[Bletchleyite]

Or you can just fly from Heathrow...
Why anyone would want to pay £9.80 to fly from the worst London Airport idk

It's no way the worst London airport. It is much, much quicker to get through both in and out (hold luggage included) than either Gatwick or Stansted. And the reason you'd choose it over Heathrow is cheaper flights, most likely far more than £9.80 cheaper.

Heathrow, certainly, has been transformed, and sometimes BA can be affordable, but Heathrow flights are generally, on average, the most expensive to European destinations of the 4 main London airports.

 

[cactustwirly]

It's no way the worst London airport. It is much, much quicker to get through both in and out (hold luggage included) than either Gatwick or Stansted. And the reason you'd choose it over Heathrow is cheaper flights, most likely far more than £9.80 cheaper.

Heathrow, certainly, has been transformed, and sometimes BA can be affordable, but Heathrow flights are generally, on average, the most expensive to European destinations of the 4 main London airports.

In my experience it is.
I now avoid at all costs.

In my experience flying from Heathrow with BA is the cheapest overall option when you include travel costs and all the fees for luggage on LCCs etc.
They also do very good deals on package holidays

Otherwise if I'm flying easyJet I'll go from Gatwick for the more civilized experience

 

[PeterY]

I don't live far from Luton, I'll be doing the DART once, just for trip. I can then colour in another line. It is expensive though.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Take your hiking boots and prepare not to see your checked bag until at least half an hour after arrival, then. Gatwick is an appalling bodge of an airport. It's better than Stansted, and both are better than the appalling Manchester, but this isn't much of an accolade.

I don't live far from Luton, I'll be doing the DART once, just for trip. I can then colour in another line. It is expensive though.

In the end if you're going on holiday (even a cheap sleasyJet one) ten quid is neither here nor there.

 

[43066]

In my experience flying from Heathrow with BA is the cheapest overall option when you include travel costs and all the fees for luggage on LCCs etc.
They also do very good deals on package holidays

The catchment area Luton appeals to would find Heathrow difficult to get to and Luton is now also very well connected to central London (even more so once the DART opens).

Many (most?) people travelling short haul in Europe on your typical weekend break just take hand baggage to reduce costs further.

 

[Haywain]

The catchment area Luton appeals to would find Heathrow difficult to get to

That's a curious statement - in my observation the vast majority of people travelling to the airport by public transport are coming from central London.

 

[Bletchleyite]

That's a curious statement - in my observation the vast majority of people travelling to the airport by public transport are coming from central London.

Indeed. Most of Luton's immediate catchment (i.e. in its role as "South Midlands and North Home Counties Airport") arrives by car or taxi, with a small amount of coach travel, due to the woeful provision of public transport in the South East that doesn't go to London.

This is all about making it more attractive as a "London airport".

 

[A0]

Or you can just fly from Heathrow...
Why anyone would want to pay £9.80 to fly from the worst London Airport idk

BIB - I thought we were talking about Luton - Gatwick's easily the "worst" London airport by virtue of a lousy location.

If you live north of London you're on the hook for a nasty journey involving either going through the middle of London by train or one half of the M25.

I'd rather fly out of Manchester - and that's saying something given the ridiculous amount of time it took for them get luggage off a plane last time I flew through there.

 

[Bald Rick]

Or you can just fly from Heathrow...
Why anyone would want to pay £9.80 to fly from the worst London Airport idk

This thread is about Luton, not Stansted.

 

[A0]

Indeed. Most of Luton's immediate catchment (i.e. in its role as "South Midlands and North Home Counties Airport") arrives by car or taxi, with a small amount of coach travel, due to the woeful provision of public transport in the South East that doesn't go to London.

This is all about making it more attractive as a "London airport".

Oh, puhlese.

Luton is very well connected both by road (bus or coach) and rail.

Away from rail it has a half-hourly bus to Hitchin and Stevenage, an hourly bus to Bedford and Milton Keynes, it has a coach roughly every 2 hours to Oxford, a coach almost hourly to Northampton and Birmingham, a coach every 2 hours to Hemel Hempstead. That's without counting the coaches which are heading to London.

So what is the huge "public transport" gap to Luton Airport from the South East you believe there is ?

 

[73128]

Is it all pensioners or only Luton pensioners who can use it for free (when it eventually opens)?

 

[Bletchleyite]

This thread is about Luton, not Stansted.

Well, quite. I don't get the hate for Luton*. It's a very quick airport to get through, has a nice (if often a bit busy) departure hall etc.

* Airport. I completely get the hate for the town, it's an abject dump. Though to be fair Leagrave isn't unpleasant.

 

[smjxm09]

From Farringdon, Heathrow, Gatwick and Luton all have similar travel times via direct trains.

 

[John R]

Oh, puhlese..... it has a coach roughly every 2 hours to Oxford,

In the context of the current discussion, I hardly think a coach every two hours (taking 2 hrs+) could be described as convenient for airport passengers. The first bus (0510) doesn't get in until 0710, and the coach operator recommends allowing at least 180 minutes before your flight, so that's all the morning peak when all the planes based there get flying missed, even if you take a less prudent view

 

[Bletchleyite]

Oh, puhlese.

Luton is very well connected both by road (bus or coach) and rail.

Away from rail it has a half-hourly bus to Hitchin and Stevenage, an hourly bus to Bedford and Milton Keynes, it has a coach roughly every 2 hours to Oxford, a coach almost hourly to Northampton and Birmingham, a coach every 2 hours to Hemel Hempstead. That's without counting the coaches which are heading to London.

So what is the huge "public transport" gap to Luton Airport from the South East you believe there is ?

Luton Airport is a base for most of the airlines that serve it. As such most of the departures are around 0600-0700, and most of the arrivals are about 2200-2330 - there are others, but they're far smaller in number, and while I've not checked what it is now there used to be a gap with nothing at all between about 1330 and 1530. The timetables of those bus services do not provide for that. The NatEx coaches do, but mostly on a two-hourly frequency that mean if you use them you're giving up a night's sleep (you'll need an 03xx departure from Coachway for the early flights, which means a taxi to the Coachway at 02something, whereas you'll be able to book a taxi for about 0430 and easily catch most of them).

For anyone I know in MK, you take a taxi to Luton Airport. The local taxi firms do it very cheaply.

 

[Brubulus]

A direct (prefrably nonstop) bus from Hitchin and Stevenage rail stations to the airport would improve links to the airport from the ECML and Cambridgeshire as the current fastest route by public transport is via London.

 

[alholmes]

A direct (prefrably nonstop) bus from Hitchin and Stevenage rail stations to the airport would improve links to the airport from the ECML and Cambridgeshire as the current fastest route by public transport is via London.

Route 100 from Stevenage, every 40 minutes, albeit not non-stop. It passes through Hitchin town centre, but not the station.

 

[Brubulus]

Route 100 from Stevenage, every 40 minutes, albeit not non-stop. It passes through Hitchin town centre, but not the station.

Just saw that, would be good to be every 30 mins and go via Hitchin Station for easier access to Cambridgeshire and the towns between Hitchin and Peterborough. The stops aren't too bad as it uses the dual carriageway between Hitchin and Luton.

 

[Watershed]

It's no way the worst London airport. It is much, much quicker to get through both in and out (hold luggage included) than either Gatwick or Stansted. And the reason you'd choose it over Heathrow is cheaper flights, most likely far more than £9.80 cheaper.

Heathrow, certainly, has been transformed, and sometimes BA can be affordable, but Heathrow flights are generally, on average, the most expensive to European destinations of the 4 main London airports.

I generally find Gatwick my London airport of choice. It has a direct rail service from the greatest number of places, the highest frequencies (other than City Airport, which doesn't really count because it has so few flights), and is perfectly affordable to reach on Oyster/contactless - so long as you avoid the pointless red-coloured ripoff. It has a good choice of airlines too.

 

[Foxhunter]

Luton Airport is a base for most of the airlines that serve it. As such most of the departures are around 0600-0700, and most of the arrivals are about 2200-2330 - there are others, but they're far smaller in number, and while I've not checked what it is now there used to be a gap with nothing at all between about 1330 and 1530. The timetables of those bus services do not provide for that.

Oh, puhlese.

Pretty much all* public transport needs a subsidy to operate pre 0600 and post 2330. Transport to and form an airport is not high on my list of deserving cases for public largesse.

*I appreciate that I can rely on RailIUKforums to list all the ones which aren't.

 

[Ediswan]

Route 100 from Stevenage, every 40 minutes, albeit not non-stop. It passes through Hitchin town centre, but not the station.

You beat me to it. Roughly every 40 minutes Monday to Saturday, not so good on a Sunday.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Oh, puhlese.

Pretty much all* public transport needs a subsidy to operate pre 0600 and post 2330. Transport to and form an airport is not high on my list of deserving cases for public largesse.

*I appreciate that I can rely on RailIUKforums to list all the ones which aren't.

I'm not suggesting such public transport should exist. I'm merely pointing out that it doesn't, and thus that the majority of Home Counties users of Luton Airport go there by car or taxi.

The DART isn't really about modal shift, it's about growing the airport's traffic to/from the London side, specifically central London but also secondarily places along the Thameslink line of route (which does have a 24/7 service).

 

[A0]

Luton Airport is a base for most of the airlines that serve it. As such most of the departures are around 0600-0700, and most of the arrivals are about 2200-2330 - there are others, but they're far smaller in number, and while I've not checked what it is now there used to be a gap with nothing at all between about 1330 and 1530. The timetables of those bus services do not provide for that. The NatEx coaches do, but mostly on a two-hourly frequency that mean if you use them you're giving up a night's sleep (you'll need an 03xx departure from Coachway for the early flights, which means a taxi to the Coachway at 02something, whereas you'll be able to book a taxi for about 0430 and easily catch most of them).

For anyone I know in MK, you take a taxi to Luton Airport. The local taxi firms do it very cheaply.

From MK Coachway to Luton Airport this coming Friday, NX website says departures at 01.55, 02.30, 03.50, 04.15, 04.40, 05.45 all getting you to the airport before 06.30 - journey time 30-40 mins.

That's basically one coach an hour through the night.

A direct (prefrably nonstop) bus from Hitchin and Stevenage rail stations to the airport would improve links to the airport from the ECML and Cambridgeshire as the current fastest route by public transport is via London.

Depends on where you're travelling from, but West Cambs such as St Neots, you've got the 905 to Bedford and then train. Most people in the Cambridge area will look to Stansted though as that's closer and an easier journey. It's also Ryanair's hub, so has no shortage of destinations.

 

[Techniquest]

It’s 2km, up hill, across a number of awkward road junctions, alongside very busy roads, and quite exposed to the elements. I walk a lot and consider anything under 3k walking distance, but having done this trip once (with a small cabin bag) I’ll not be doing it again.



It’s a good 20 minutes even at my pace (which is quick). For most people it will be about half an hour, especially with bags.

You make it sound like a walk I want to take on! I dread to think what it will be like, but if a walking enthusiast doesn't like it then I will be in for some unpleasant surprises by the looks of it! Still, me and my SuperNovas are up for the challenge, and if I do it before the DART opens I'll be sure to feedback into this thread about the experience!

I think my average speed is 4.5mph, so I'd be smashing Maps' estimated time. I sure did for Premier Inn Hackney to St Pancras the other week, I think I beat it by 16 minutes and that was with stops to re-do my laces!

 

[cactustwirly]

Well, quite. I don't get the hate for Luton*. It's a very quick airport to get through, has a nice (if often a bit busy) departure hall etc.

* Airport. I completely get the hate for the town, it's an abject dump. Though to be fair Leagrave isn't unpleasant.

I didn't find it especially quick, it's very basic and the boarding process is like being treated like a herd of cattle.
You can't sit at the gate and wait for your boarding group in a civilized manner
However it does have the cheapest parking of all the London Airports.

 

[Bletchleyite]

I didn't find it especially quick, it's very basic and the boarding process is like being treated like a herd of cattle.
You can't sit at the gate and wait for your boarding group in a civilized manner

You're going to be sat down for an hour at least. Why would you care about stretching your legs a bit before boarding?

It's simple and basic but efficient, and the departure lounge is quite nice and has a good selection of retail.

 

[Bald Rick]

Luton Airport is a base for most of the airlines that serve it. As such most of the departures are around 0600-0700, and most of the arrivals are about 2200-2330 - there are others, but they're far smaller in number, and while I've not checked what it is now there used to be a gap with nothing at all between about 1330 and 1530.

Luton have been quite clever with EZY and Wizz, who are by far their biggest airlines. It’s true that early morning is busiest for departures, and late evening busiest for arrivals, but the airport is consistently busy through the day.

EZY and Wizz both have bases there, but both also fly in from bases elsewhere, EZY from Scotland and a couple of places in Europe, Wizz extensively from Eastern Europe.

The first round of EZY and Wizz (UK) departures go 0540ish - 0800ish, with the first round of arrivals from other bases around 0730-0900. Then the first round of departures on short flights start returning around 0930ish, around the same time as the first arrivals head back out. Then the early European departures start returning, and by the time that’s done and they’ve gone back out it’s early afternoon. And so on. Most Luton based aircraft make three return trips a day, and some do four.

You make it sound like a walk I want to take on! I dread to think what it will be like, but if a walking enthusiast doesn't like it then I will be in for some unpleasant surprises by the looks of it! Still, me and my SuperNovas are up for the challenge, and if I do it before the DART opens I'll be sure to feedback into this thread about the experience!

I have walked from my house in St Albans to Luton - took less than three hours - and I’d rather do that in cold rain than walk from the station to the airport again!

 

[dk1]

I have walked from my house in St Albans to Luton - took less than three hours - and I’d rather do that in cold rain than walk from the station to the airport again!

As someone who spent much of his childhood in Harpenden, why on earth would you do that?

 

[43066]

As someone who spent much of his childhood in Harpenden, why on earth would you do that?

I suppose if you wanted motivation for a six hour walk, spending three hours walking to Luton would do it; you’d be inspired to turn around and retrace your steps!