Fire Luton Airport: is the airport open, what happened today, are flights being cancelled - what has easyJet and Wizz Air said?

Firefighters have raced to London’s Luton Airport to tackle a huge blaze which ripped through a multi-storey car park causing it to collapse. The fire started last night (Tuesday 10 October) at around 9pm and appears to have destroyed hundreds of cars.

Andrew Hopkinson, chief fire officer for Bedfordshire Fire and Rescue Service, said the fire at the airport has been “stood down from a major incident” and told reporters at the scene that a ramp is being installed “into the unaffected car park because the normal exit route is not safe to take vehicles out”. He added that the fire at Luton Airport is believed to have started with a diesel vehicle.

Flights have been cancelled since the fire broke out and the airport said emergency services remain at the scene. Initially the airport suspended flights until 12pm today (Wednesday 11 October), but this has now been extended.

Four firefighters and a member of airport staff were taken to hospital suffering from smoke inhalation and another firefighter was treated at the scene. Footage posted on social media showed flames and smoke tearing through cars parked at the newly-built car park.

In a statement issued on social media shortly after 7am, Luton Airport said: “Our priority remains supporting the emergency services and the safety of our passengers and staff. Therefore, we have now taken the decision to suspend all flights until 3pm on Wednesday 11th October. Passengers are advised not to travel to the airport at this time, as access remains severely restricted.”

Here’s everything you need to know.

Is London Luton Airport open?

The airport is currently closed as emergency services tackle the blaze which ripped through a multi-storey car park. This morning the first wave of flights would be departing from the airport for destinations across the UK, Ireland and Continental Europe but no flights have arrived or departed since around 9pm last night.

Travel expert Simon Calder told The Independent that the terminal area is completely closed to traffic, and the Dart shuttle from the nearby Luton Airport Parkway rail station has been suspended. He added that flight crew, aircraft and passengers are all out of position and anyone booked to fly to or from Luton today will face disruption.

Access to the Airport from the Luton Direct Air-Rail Transit has been closed, leaving passengers stuck at Luton Airport Parkway station.

Are flights being cancelled?

Flights have been suspended at London’s Luton Airport after the “significant fire” broke out. Initially the airport suspended all flights until 12pm today - but this has now been extended to 3pm.

On Wednesday morning, 85 planes were due to depart by 12 noon when the airport may re-open. Simon Calder told The Independent that with inbound cancellations, a total of 170 flights have been cancelled, adding that about 30,000 passengers have been impacted, altogehter.

PA news agency analysis of flight data websites found at least 140 flights due to take off or land at the airport have been cancelled since the fire started. A further 17 arrivals were diverted to airports including Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, East Midlands, Gatwick, Liverpool John Lennon, Manchester and Stansted.

Even if Luton Airport is able to reopen at 3pm travellers are likely to be affected due to knock-on effects from today’s closure. For passengers who are worried about their cars parked in the car park the airport has issued a statement. It said: “For passengers who have queries regarding a parked vehicle or future booking please contact [email protected].”

Eight Polish passengers have been stranded for nine hours after their early morning flight from Luton Airport was cancelled. Nikodem Lesiak, 18, told PA news agency that he and seven other Polish university students are “tired” as they have been stranded since 12am after their 7:50 am flight to Krakow in Poland, was cancelled.

He said: “When we got here, we found out Luton is burning and everything is closed, and we were supposed to have our flight at 7:50 today but it was cancelled. We found another ticket to Poland from another city and then we have to take a coach to the city we live in.” Their next flight will be leaving at 12:40pm, however Mr Lesiak said they are taking a “risk” as their flight might again be cancelled.

What has easyJet and Wizz Air said?

An easyJet spokesperson told NationalWorld that the airline is “currently unable to operate as planned” due to the incident. It said it is doing “all possible to minimise the impact” on its customers and are “providing those on cancelled flights with options to rebook or receive a refund, as well as providing hotel accommodation and meals where required.”

The spokesperson added: “We advise all passengers due to fly with us from Luton to check the status of their flights on Flight Tracker at www.easyjet.com/en/flight-tracker for real-time information. The safety and wellbeing of customers and crew is easyJet’s highest priority and we would like to apologise to customers for the inconvenience caused.”

Wizz Air, which also operates from Luton Airport, has issued a statement to passengers. The airline said:“Due to the unexpected fire at London Luton Airport multi-story car park, all flights are suspended until the afternoon of 11th October. All affected passengers who booked directly through Wizz Air will be contacted and provided updates via email and SMS. Customers who booked through a third-party should contact them for further information. Though the situation is beyond our control, Wizz Air apologises for any inconvenience caused and is doing everything in its power to minimise disruption.”

How many terminals does Luton Airport have?

Luton airport is the fifth-busiest airport in the UK and it normally schedules several hundred flights a day across Europe, carrying around 40,000 passengers daily. It is the location for easyJet’s headquarters, and is also the main UK base for Wizz Air, which has many flights to and from destinations mainly in eastern Europe.

Ryanair has a substantial operation from the airport too with dozens of flights to destinations in Ireland and Continental Europe. The airport has only one terminal, which serves all passenger flights at the airport.