London Luton Airport plans to reopen its Terminal Drop Off Zone by Christmas as pre-booked Premium Parking and bays for disabled passengers, not as a drop-off.

London Luton Airport wants to reopen its Terminal Drop Off Zone by Christmas, but not for dropping people off. The airport plans to turn the area’s 59 spaces into pre-booked Premium Parking, with some bays set aside for passengers with reduced mobility.

The plan is in a letter to Luton Borough Council dated 5 October. Its Infrastructure Director, Marc Wolman, says the aim is to have the area “fully operational by Christmas 2026”, and calls it “a priority activity for 2026”.

The council logged the notice as planning reference 26/01029/GPDOPD, received on 6 October and validated on 7 October. Its status is “awaiting decision”.

What the airport plans

The zone sits beside the airport’s bus and coach station, according to the drawings filed with the notice. The letter says the airport will keep the existing layout and split the 59 spaces between PRM bays, the airport’s term for passengers with reduced mobility, and Premium Parking.

The works listed in the letter are:

  • two Skidata barriers with number plate recognition (ANPR) cameras
  • resurfacing and drainage in places, to fix surface water pooling
  • an online pre-booking system only
  • the dropped kerb extended by about two metres along the new PRM bays
  • old signs removed, with new signs on the Airport Approach Road and from the terminal
  • road markings for PRM spaces, parking bays and wayfinding
  • one extra 360-degree CCTV camera to watch the parked cars
  • “operational management measures to ensure the area is not used as a drop-off zone”

The airport’s car parking supplier would run it. Engineering firm Ramboll has been appointed to carry out a road safety assessment, which will fix where the barriers go.

Why it is a notice, not a full application

Airports can build some things on their own operational land without full planning permission. These are permitted development rights under Part 8, Class F of the General Permitted Development Order 2015. They still have to consult the council first.

The airport says it considers the works “minor/de minimis”. It argues that adding Premium Parking “would not constitute a material change of use”. It filed the notice anyway “for completeness and transparency”.

The letter asks the council for any comments within two weeks of the notification.

What it means for you

If you drop someone off at the airport, this does not give you a new place to do it. The letter is explicit that the area will be managed so it is not used for drop-offs.

The letter does not say that the airport’s current paid drop-off changes. The airport’s dropping off page, read on 11 October, sets out the options as they stand.

Option Cost Distance to the terminal
Drop Off and Pick Up Zone £9 for up to 12 minutes, then £1 a minute; 30 minutes maximum About a five-minute walk
Long Stay car park Free for up to 2 hours; £7 for 3 hours Bus from Bus Bay B, about 10 minutes, every 20 minutes
Terminal Car Park 1, Blue Badge holders or booked assistance 30 minutes free Linked to the terminal by a bridge

The Drop Off and Pick Up Zone is barrier-free and reads your number plate on the way in. You pay online, by midnight the following day. Staying beyond 30 minutes brings a £95 enforcement charge, cut to £55 if paid within 14 days. The airport says Blue Badge holders get no concession in that zone.

What we do not know yet. The letter gives no price for Premium Parking. It does not say how many of the 59 bays go to passengers with reduced mobility, or whether those bays will be free or have to be booked. It also does not say how Premium Parking will differ from the airport’s existing Priority Parking Drop & Go, which is on Level 2 of Terminal Car Park 1. We will update this story when the airport publishes the product.

If you are driving to the airport this week, note that New Airport Way northbound is being resurfaced overnight from 12 to 18 October. The detail is on our Luton roadworks page, and town parking is in Parking in Luton.

Sources