Luton Airport fire – live: Flights suspended for most of day as 40,000 passengers affected
Airport suspends all flights until 3pm on Wednesday as up to 1,200 cars damaged in fire
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Your support makes all the difference.Up to 40,000 passengers have been affected by flight cancellations after a large fire broke out at one of London’s Luton Airport’s car parks.
The airport has now suspended all flights until at least 3pm, as firefighters remain at the site of blaze that broke out just before 9pm.
The newly-built car park building at the airport’s Terminal 2 has partially collapsed, the Bedfordshire Fire and Rescue Service said. It was not known if any passengers were trapped on the tarmac, inside the airport or in the Terminal 2 car park.
The fire service said it was called to the incident just before 9pm and over 10 fire engines were at the scene. It added that 80 per cent of one of the car park’s third floors was impacted by the blaze.
Up to 1,200 vehicles may have been in the car park at the time of the fire and subsequently damaged.
In a statement posted to X on Wednesday morning the airport added: “Passengers are advised not to travel to the airport at this time as access remains severely restricted.”
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How does Luton Airport fire affect passengers?
As flights are cancelled until 3pm today, Simon Calder looks at how the Luton Airport fire affects passengers:
Simon Calder: How does Luton Airport fire affect passengers?
About 30,000 passengers have been impacted as 170 flights cancelled
1,200 vehicles believed to be in car park at time of blaze
Up to 1,200 vehicles may have been in the car park at the time of the fire and ‘subsequently damaged’, fire service say.
In their latest update on the blaze Bedfordshire Fire and Rescue Service said: “Firefighting operations were undertaken to control the blaze and protect nearby buildings, vehicles, aircraft, and the Luton DART.”
They added: “It is believed that up to 1,200 vehicles may have been in the car park at the time of the fire and subsequently damaged.”
Simon Calder reports from a ‘silent' Luton airport
Normally the first wave of flights would be departing from Luton airport for destinations across the UK, Ireland and Continental Europe.
The three biggest budget airlines in Europe – easyJet, Ryanair and Wizz Air – have substantial operations at Luton, which is one of the five busiest airports in the UK.
But no flights have arrived or departed since around 9pm on Tuesday night – after a severe fire broke out in a car park just 200m from the passenger terminal and adjacent to the main access road.
Firefighters have put out the blaze during the night, and work is now going on to drain the water used in dousing the flames.
The terminal area is completely closed to traffic, and the Dart shuttle from the nearby Luton Airport Parkway rail station has been suspended.
Some airport staff have walked into work, but for operations to restart at 3pm – as currently hoped – will require considerable coordination. Flight crew, aircraft and passengers are all out of position, and anyone booked to fly to or from Luton on Wednesday will face disruption.
Over 100 firefighters tackled blaze
Over 100 firefighters tackled the car park blaze at Luton Airport, fire chief says.
He added that at the peak of the fire, firefighters used 15 fire appliances to battle the blaze, which caused the new Terminal 2 car park to collapse.
Andrew Hopkinson, chief fire officer for Bedfordshire Fire and Rescue Service, said: “At its peak we had 15 fire appliances, over 100 firefighters and a number of specialist resources including the one you will see over my right-hand shoulder, with resources provided by neighbouring fire and rescue services.”
He added that the car park as a capacity of just over 1,900 cars and that they estimate up to 1,500 cars have been affected.
Watch: Video shows flames engulfing terminal car park
Footage shows flames raging from a fire that broke out at London’s Luton Airport on Tuesday evening (10 October).
All flight operations have been suspended at the airport after the blaze engulfed one of its car park buildings.
Bedfordshire Fire and Rescue Service have said the newly-built car park, at Terminal 2, has partially collapsed.
Video shows flames engulfing Luton airport terminal car park as flights suspended
Footage shows flames raging from a fire that broke out at London’s Luton Airport on Tuesday evening (10 October). All flight operations have been suspended at the airport after the blaze engulfed one of its car park buildings. Bedfordshire Fire and Rescue Service have said the newly-built car park, at Terminal 2, has partially collapsed. Flights have been suspended until 3pm on Wednesday and passengers have been urged not to travel to the airport as “access remains severely restricted”. Up to 1,200 vehicles may have been in the car park at the time of the fire and subsequently damaged, according to the fire services.
Between 40,000 and 50,000 passengers are out of position as a result of the closure of Luton airport.
Around 273 flights have been either diverted, suspended or cancelled as a result of the fire at a London Luton Airport car park.
Simon Calder reports that, assuming 160 passengers were due to fly on each plane, 44,000 passengers are thought to be affected.
Ten outbound flights were cancelled on Tuesday night after being boarded and 23 inbound flights were diverted.
There were 120 flights due to depare from the airport before 3pm today, as well as 120 corresponding inbound flights.
The Luton airport blaze is out, so why aren’t flights already taking off and landing?
The reason: a temporary water main is blocking the main access road.
Andrew Hopkinson, chief fire officer for Bedfordshire Fire and Rescue Service, told Simon Calder at The Independent: “We’ve had to do is close a number of roads in the surrounding areas in order to lay a temporary water main to supplement the on-site water supplies.
“We’re keen to get that released.
“It’s really about the access and egress of travellers getting to and from the airport. The flights can probably start to resume and I know the airport are working with the airlines to get things back up and running.
“But really, it’s about getting the travellers to and from that’s causing, you know, the delays at this time.”
Fire “controlled and extinguished"
The blaze at London Luton’s Terminal 2 car park has been “controlled and extinguished”, fire service says.
In a post on X, the Bedfordshire Fire and Rescue Service said: “Crews have controlled and extinguished the fire at Luton Airport. Four crews and an aerial appliance remain at the scene. All flights are suspended until 3pm.
“If you have a flight leaving before 3pm, please do not travel. Please avoid the area owing to severe traffic delays.”
Local residents hear ‘explosions’ as car park collapsed
Local Luton residents have shared the “terrifying” sight of the airport car park as it burnt down.
A 19-year-old Luton resident, who lives close to the car park, told deputy travel editor Benjamin Parker:“It was terrifying.
“We saw multiple stages of the car park collapsing and there were constant loud popping sounds from what I suspect were car tyres exploding, and probably the cars too.
“A few times when a large section of the building went down, a huge cloud of smoke – almost like a mushroom cloud – would form. It was crazy”
Cause of fire confirmed
The cause of the huge blaze at London’s Luton Airport has been named as a diesel powered vehicle.
“We have no intelligence at this stage to suggest that this was anything other than an accidental fire that started in one of the vehicles that had not long arrived at the airport. It was not an EV,” Andrew Hopkinson, chief fire officer for Bedfordshire Fire and Rescue Service told reporters on Wednesday morning, The Mirror reported.
He added: “This was a diesel powered vehicle.”
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