London’s Luton airport, managed by the Spanish public company Aena, closed and canceled all its flights until 4:00 pm this Wednesday, Spanish time, due to a fire in one of its parking lots. The fire started on Tuesday night after the explosion of a car and spread to the parking lot of Terminal 2, causing many parked cars to burn.
In a statement released through its social networks, the airport indicated that its priority is the safety of travelers and workers and cooperated with the emergency services, which caused the suspension of all its flights. The order remains in place at least until 3:00 pm local time (one hour more in mainland Spain and the Balearic Islands). In addition, the aerodrome advises passengers that they cannot go to the airport as access is restricted and recommends contacting airlines for information about flights to or from Luton.
“We have no evidence to suggest that it was anything more than an accidental fire that started in one of the vehicles,” said Andrew Hopkinson, head of the area’s fire department, in media statements reported by Reuters.
In total, the London airport announced the suspension of about 120 operations (both arrivals and departures). Aena sources indicated that at 11 a.m. these cancellations affected 12 flights between Spain and Luton, both originating and ending in London. Throughout Wednesday, 37 flights were scheduled between the airports of the Aena network (the public manager that manages most of the Spanish airports) and the aerodrome located north of London, widely used by low-cost companies such as Ryanair or Easyjet.
