UK: Luton Airport expansion plans to be examined by the government

The government has agreed to examine proposals to expand Luton Airport that would see passenger numbers increase from 18 million to 32 million a year. Luton Rising, the Luton Council company that owns the airport, said it could generate £1.5bn per year and create thousands of new jobs. But anti-noise campaigners have called the expansion plans "tragic". The government's Planning Inspectorate has six months to examine the plans. The transport secretary will then decide whether to grant development consent. The expansion plans include new terminal capacity, an extension to the current airfield platform and new airside and landside facilities. A council spokesman previously said the airport was "one of the largest employers in the area, contributing enormously to the region's economic vibrancy on an annual basis, whilst itself increasing significantly in value as an asset in its own right through successive tranches of investment". "We anticipate it will provide an additional GBP14m each year for communities in Luton and the surrounding areas," he said. "For every additional passenger above the airport's current capacity, it will be able to invest an extra GBP1 into local communities, helping to tackle deprivation."<br/>