London Luton Airport (LTN) Flights & Flight Status

Luton Airport is the Marmite of English airports. Look for reviews online and you’ll find a mix of one-star maulings from furious travellers alongside links to the accolades it’s won. This is of course confusing and preposterous. The truth is that neither is correct. It’s certainly not the world’s worst airport but it’s by no means close to deserving any awards either.

For a long time it was by far the worst of London’s six international airports, not least because of the massive building works that wreaked havoc for years. Thankfully, it has now emerged renewed, completely overhauled with a new layout, facilities and amenities.

Airlines serving Luton Airport

As you might expect from its size and location, Luton is a low-cost carrier airport. It primarily serves routes in Europe but also offers limited options domestically as well as to the Middle East and North Africa. Its main operator is easyJet, which flies to around 70 destinations, followed by budget stalwarts Ryanair and Wizz Air and a number of other small, lesser known airlines.

In 2023, just over 16 million passengers passed through its gates to and from 122 destinations in 37 countries. Since its remodelling, it has consistently been the fastest growing of London’s airports in recent years and has no plans to slow down. Indeed, its target is to overtake Stansted as London’s third airport after Heathrow and Gatwick.

In real terms this means Luton can get incredibly busy, so it’s an airport that demands you be tactical in your approach to booking flights to and from it.

Travel to and from London and beyond

Around 28 miles as the crow flies northwest of central London, Luton’s status as a London airport is tenuous at best. It has decent road and rail links into the city and if you’re heading north it’s minutes from the M1 motorway that stretches all the way to Leeds.

Driving and parking

On the road it’s around 35 miles into the city, much of it through London streets. That translates into over an hour’s drive – more if you’re travelling in rush hour between 7.30 am and 9.30 am, or 4 pm and 6.30 pm. Driving in from other parts of the country is easier, as the motorway network runs right past Luton’s front door.

The big problem currently is parking, especially if you prefer to be on site. A massive fire in the multi-storey car park in late 2023 has rendered it out of action for the foreseeable future. There are still the usual off-site parking options with shuttle to the terminal, but none as convenient as the multi-storey was planned to be.

Car hire is available, although it’s also off site, a free but not super convenient shuttle bus ride away. Unless you’re in an eye-wateringly expensive official black taxi, rideshares and the like of Uber are subject to the same traffic problems as any other car. They’re a viable option heading from the city to the airport, but can be a pain to organise and wait for going the other way. The pickup point is also an inconvenient walk from the terminal, especially when juggling luggage and kids too.

Train

Another inevitability of the old Luton Airport experience was the terrible train connection to London via a massively underserviced shuttle bus promising long queues and longer waits. The opening of the Luton DART– or Direct Air Rail Transit – has improved things dramatically. A quick and easy rail transfer from the airport to Luton Parkway Station now takes just a few minutes. The DART runs 24/7 with departures every five to 15 minutes depending on the time of day. All very convenient, but it comes at a cost equating to nearly a pound a minute.

At the station you’ll find the Luton Airport Express rail service. It’s then a direct 32-minute ride to St Pancras Station in central London for onward connections to the rest of the city, the UK and Europe via LeShuttle.

Coach

It’s seldom I say this, but the coach has long been my preferred commute between Luton and the city. Regular and convenient, the National Express service goes to Paddington and Victoria stations, both major travel hubs. It takes around an hour to Paddington with stops en route at tube stations and some bus stops. Book in advance and tickets are around the same price as the DART alone, but are far better value.

Navigating the airport

Luton is compact with just one two-storey terminal serving both departures and arrivals. Expanded and rearranged several times over different refurbishments, its layout is a little convoluted. In places it’s also claustrophobic with low ceilings and narrow corridors but is easy enough to navigate.

There’s a decent array of places to eat landside before security, although they’re all chain brands. And as this area funnels both arriving and departing passengers, there’s a lot crammed into a relatively small area. It’s often congested and isn’t somewhere I’d recommend hanging out for longer than you need to.

Check in, bag drop and security

If you haven’t checked in online (which you really, really should), there’s a long row of around 60 check-in desks in a large hall on the right hand side as you enter. You’ll also find the bag drop area here. This is the most chaotic area of the airport, where long queues regularly form for the often understaffed desks. The airport’s budget nature means many of its customers are young families, which only adds to the noise and general mayhem.

If you do have to drop off hold luggage, plan in enough time and expect queues most no matter when you travel. If you’re going during peak travel periods, give yourself at least an hour. My advice to families is to make for one of the landside cafés with the kids and leave one adult to deal with the bags.

Security has improved with the installation of new smart scanners that mean you don’t need to bag up your liquids and remove your electronics from carry-on luggage. While this has undoubtedly sped things up and shortened lines, Luton’s claims that the average time to get through security is just eight minutes are unrealistic at all but the quietest times. Give yourself 20 to 30 minutes to be on the safe side.

If you’re well enough organised, an interesting option is Luton’s new Prebook Security service, which is running limited early trials at time of writing. The idea is that up to four days before your flight, you can book a ten minute time slot to pass through security without having to queue. Guidance says to arrive 15 minutes before your allotted ten minute time slot – which sounds a lot like a typical 25 minute wait at security to me! It’s free (at the moment) and it will be interesting to see if it succeeds.

Shopping, eating and drinking in the terminal

Airside, Luton is now home to a modern, well catered, but slightly cluttered departures terminal. Head up the stairs from security and you’re funnelled through a snaking horseshoe-shaped shopping centre. There are around 25 shops, bars, restaurants and cafés packed in between two Aelia duty free stores.

Shops are the typical generic airport variety – from sunglasses to WHSmith. While there’s nothing of any great note food and drinks wise, Nolito makes a decent pizza and I’m a fan of the Bombay toasties at Indian street food chain Chaiiwala. If it’s a quick bite you’re after, you’ll be well served with lots of fast food chains and a reasonable amount of seating in the concourse-come-corridor.

One thing Luton’s refurb hasn’t been able to shake off is its reputation for being somewhat chaotic, unclean and understaffed. This has long been the main source of ire for many travellers but my experience in recent years has been far better. The simple rule of thumb is the busier it is, the worse the experience. Unfortunately, Luton Airport is busy a great deal of the time.

No1 Lounge

There is some solace from the crowds, if you’re willing to pay for it. By gate 17, the No1 Lounge is clean, modern and comfortable. That also means it’s very popular, especially for the few business travellers using Luton, so book online in advance if the price doesn’t put you off.

There’s a reasonable buffet serving hot food and drinks with work areas, sofas and TVs. WiFi is free throughout the airport anyway, but is unlimited in the lounge. Bear in mind that children of any age are also allowed entry, so there’s no guarantee of peace and quiet.