Luton Airport to get 2.4 billion facelift as hub aims to double passengers

The airport - the UK's fifth busiest hub - will build a new terminal and upgrade its existing one in order to be able to welcome up to 32 million passengers by 2043

Tannur Anders UK & World News Reporter

07:36, 06 Aug 2026Updated 07:36, 06 Aug 2026

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London Luton Airport has terminal projects planned (Image: London Luton Airport)

Plans to expand one of the UK's busiest airports will go ahead after the Supreme Court declined to grant campaigners final permission appeal.

The plans to construct a new terminal and expand an existing one at London Luton Airport - expected to cost around 2.4billion - will now go ahead unopposed after the Supreme Court's July 31 decision.

The airport will now build a new terminal an upgrade its existing one to be able to welcome 32 million passengers by 2043. Luton Airport was the UK fifth-busiest hub, with 17.5 million passengers.

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London Luton Airport in Luton, UK (file image)(Image: Getty)

Flights volumes are expected to be ramped up as a result of the expansion. Around 209,000 flight are expected annually from the current average of between 65,000 to 68,000 flights.

The expansion is expected to create 11,000 new jobs at the airport, with 4,400 of those in the town itself.

The busy airport is home to carriers Ryanair, easyJet, Wizz Air. In April 2025, it welcomed airline Jet2 to the hub, with 17 new routes.

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Aerial view of the main terminal with control tower and apron at London Luton Airport (file image)(Image: Getty)

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Chair of Luton Rising, which owns Luton Airport, Paul Kehoe called clearing it a "landmark moment".

"We are very pleased to now have the certainty we have been working towards," he said.

"As a community-owned organisation, every passenger travelling through our airport means more investment in local people and services."

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