Luton Airport suspends flights after car park inferno

The fire department says up to 1,200 cars could have been in the car park at the time

• easterneye.biz Staff
• 11 October, 2023

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By: easterneye.biz Staff

LONDON Luton Airport suspended all flights until 3 pm on Wednesday (11) after a car fire triggered a wider blaze that led to a partial collapse of one of its multi-storey car parks.

There were no known fatalities in the fire, which was first reported to emergency services late on Tuesday (10) evening. Pictures of the scene showed huge flames sweeping through the structure located a short distance from the airport terminal.

“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 3 pm on Wednesday,” the airport said in a post on X.

The suspension had previously been set to run until 12 noon.

The local fire department said up to 1,200 cars could have been in the car park at the time.

“One half of the structure was fully involved in fire and the building suffered a significant structural collapse,” the fire department added, while declaring this as a major incident.

A full investigation would be undertaken to determine the cause of the fire, they said.

The ambulance service said four firefighters and a member of airport staff had been taken to hospital.

EasyJet, whose flights operate from Luton airport, said “airlines are currently experiencing some disruption to their flying programmes.”

Ryanair said affected passengers would be contacted as soon as possible. Hungarian Wizz Air which also fly through Luton, did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comment.

(Reuters)