Simon Calder: How does Luton Airport fire affect passengers?

Flights have been suspended at London’s Luton Airport after “a significant fire” broke out at a terminal car park, and passengers have been told to not go to the airport at this time.

The fire that began late on Tuesday night has led to a portion of an airport car park building collapsing, the airport said in a statement.

“Emergency services continue to respond to a significant fire in Terminal Car Park 2, which has resulted in partial structural collapse,” the airport said.

“All flights are suspended until 12pm on Wednesday 11 October, please contact your airline for the latest flight information.

“Passengers are advised not to travel to the airport at this time, as access remains severely restricted.”

What’s the effect on flights?

Twenty-three incoming flights were diverted on Tuesday night and in the early hours of Wednesday morning. Passengers ended up at airports as far away as Liverpool, Manchester, Cardiff and Bristol late at night.

Ten outbound departures were cancelled on Tuesday evening, including flights which had already been boarded.

On Wednesday morning, 85 planes were due to depart by 12 noon when the airport may re-open. With the inbound cancellations, that means a total of 170 flights – with an estimated 27,000 passengers booked – have been cancelled.

About 30,000 passengers have been impacted, adding in last night’s cancelled and diverted flights.

Even if the airport is able to reopen at noon, more travellers likely to be affected due to knock-on effects from the closure.

What happens to those people?

Under European air passengers’ rights rules, they are entitled to alternative flights and hotel stays as necessary, but the scale of the incident is such that it’s likely many people will need to try to find alternative flights and claim back their cash.

Presumably some people will come back and find their car has gone up in smoke?

Yes. The airport says: “For passengers who have queries regarding a parked vehicle or future booking please contact luton.customerservices@apcoa.com.”

How important is Luton airport?

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.