London Luton Airport says it is the first UK airport to install wall-mounted anaphylaxis kits. They sit in the security hall, departure lounge, immigration and baggage reclaim, and anyone can use them.

Wall-mounted emergency adrenaline kits have been fitted across London Luton Airport, and the airport says it is the first in the UK to do it.

The kits work like a defibrillator, but for severe allergic reactions. They are supplied by Kitt Medical and hold emergency adrenaline pens behind a visible wall-mounted case, with instructions inside. The airport announced the roll-out on 20 August.

According to that announcement, the kits are now installed at more than ten locations across the airport, including:

  • the Security Hall
  • the Departure Lounge
  • Immigration
  • Baggage Reclaim

Every member of airport staff is being put through mandatory training alongside the roll-out, with hundreds trained in the first few days.

Who is allowed to use one

This is the part worth knowing before you travel. The airport bought the kits as a qualifying business with occupational health, to protect staff at risk of anaphylaxis. But its own statement is explicit that they are not staff-only: they can also be used to save the life of any passenger or airport visitor who has a severe reaction.

Dan Cartwright, head of airfield operations at the airport, said the kits form part of a wider partnership with East of England Ambulance Service. Under that co-responder agreement, the airport’s own fire and rescue service is trained to respond to the most serious medical emergencies inside the airport boundary while an ambulance is on its way.

David Gardner, a watch manager at the airport and the medical lead for its co-responder scheme, said the agreement is what identified the gap in the first place. He is one of ten UK Aviation Ambassadors appointed by the Department for Transport.

How many people this covers

The airport cites the Food Standards Agency’s research on adult food allergy. That study, Patterns and Prevalence of Adult Food Allergy, found that around 6% of UK adults have a clinically confirmed food allergy. The FSA puts that at around 2.4 million people, with a spread of severity running from mild oral itching up to anaphylaxis. Peanut and tree nuts such as hazelnut, walnut and almond were the most important triggers.

The scale at Luton is easier to picture from the airport’s own traffic figures. On Friday 29 May this year it expected approximately 33,000 departing passengers in a single day, its busiest on record, and 600,000 across that half-term period.

Kitt Medical says it has deployed more than 5,000 kits to schools and qualifying businesses since launching in 2023, trained more than 65,000 people, and that its kits have been used in over 50 life-threatening allergic reactions. The company’s founder, Zak Marks, said he grew up with allergies himself and that airports and flying are among the harder places to manage them. Kitt Medical’s own site says it now supplies more than 4,000 venues nationwide, and that the co-founders secured investment on BBC’s Dragons’ Den in 2025.

What it means for you

If you or someone travelling with you carries adrenaline pens, the kits are a backup, not a replacement. Take your own pens as normal.

If you see someone having a severe allergic reaction at the airport:

  • Look for the wall-mounted kit at the locations listed above. Instructions are inside the case, the same way a defibrillator works.
  • Call 999 for an ambulance and say you think it is an anaphylactic reaction. The NHS advice is to use the adrenaline auto-injector first, then call.
  • Have the person lie down, and raise their legs. The NHS is blunt about the next part: do not stand or walk at any time, even if you feel better.
  • If symptoms have not improved after five minutes, the NHS says to use a second auto-injector.
  • Airport staff are being trained on this, so flag down the nearest one.

Nothing here changes what happens once you are on the aircraft. Adrenaline provision on board is a matter for your airline, not the airport, so check your airline’s medical policy separately if you are flying with a known severe allergy.

If you are planning a trip out of Luton, our guide to Luton train times to London covers the Luton Airport Express and the DART connection to the terminal.