Luton Airport fire update: Flights suspended for most of day as 40,000 passengers affected

The number of passengers affected is thought to be around 40,000, Simon Calder reports.

Luton Airport have suspended all flights until 3pm, the airport said in a statement on X.

Emergency services are still at the site of the blaze, which began at 9pm last night in newly built Terminal 2 car park.

It was not known if any passengers were trapped on the tarmac, inside the airport or in the car park, but 1,200 vehicles are thought to be damaged.

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.

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.”

As flights are cancelled until 3pm today, Simon Calder looks at how the Luton Airport fire affects passengers:

All flight services to and from Luton Airport have been cancelled till 3pm on Wednesday after a massive fire broke out in Terminal Cark Park 2 that resulted in the partial collapse of the structure.

“Emergency services remain on the scene following last night’s fire in Terminal Car Park 2,” the airport said in an update this morning.

It advised passengers to not travel to the airport at this time due to restricted access.

Flights have been suspended at Luton Airport because of a large fire that has engulfed one of its car parks.

Footage posted on social media showed flames and smoke tearing through cars parked at the airport terminal on Tuesday evening.

Vehicle alarms and loud explosions could be heard, with one witness saying the speed in which the blaze tore through the upper floor of the car park was “incredible”.

Luton airport is the fifth-busiest airport in the UK, normally with several hundred flights a day across Europe – typically carrying 40,000 passengers daily.

It is the location for easyJet’s headquarters, and a base for many of the flights on Britain’s biggest budget airline.

Luton is the main UK base for Wizz Air, which has many flights to and from destinations mainly in eastern Europe.

Ryanair has a substantial operation, with dozens of flights to destinations in Ireland and Continental Europe.

The multi-storey car park at Terminal 2 of Luton Airport suffered significant structural collapse following a massive fire that erupted just before 9pm last night.

Upto 1,200 vehicles were in the car park at the time of the fire and subsequently damaged, according to the fire services.

“One half of the structure is fully involved in fire and the building has suffered a significant structural collapse,” a spokesperson for Bedfordshire Fire Service told PA news agency.

“Fire crews are working to extinguish the fire and prevent it from spreading to adjacent buildings and vehicles on air side of the airport.”