Europe · United Kingdom

Handling at London Luton (EGGW)

We handle overflight permits, slots, flight plans, fuel, customs and the turnaround at London Luton. One coordinator owns the stop at London Luton, from the first filing to wheels up.

AERODROME

--:-- local

ICAO: EGGW
IATA: LTN
Elevation: 526 ft
Position: 51.875, -0.368

RUNWAYS

07/252,162 m / 7,093 ftAsphalt

Reference only, not for flight planning. Lengths are full declared runway length rather than declared distances, and this page is not amended on the AIRAC cycle. Check the current AIP and NOTAMs, or ask the desk and we will check them for you.

The field

What EGGW is actually like

Luton carries the largest share of London's business aviation traffic and runs a substantial low-cost scheduled programme alongside it. The business aviation facilities are long established and the field is used to handling private trips at volume rather than as an exception.

Operating brief

What we handle before you file

Permits

Post-Brexit the United Kingdom is a third country for EU operators. Private flights are straightforward, but commercial operators need a UK CAA permit and the paperwork is no longer covered by an EU licence.

Slots and parking

Luton is slot coordinated and the peaks are genuinely tight. Parking is allocated separately from the slot, and a confirmed arrival slot with no stand behind it is a common way to end up repositioning empty.

Customs and border

Every arrival is an international arrival now, including from the EU. General Aviation Report submissions run to a fixed notice period and Border Force will meet the aircraft where the routing warrants it.

When it gets tight

Wimbledon fortnight in July, the Farnborough show in alternate Julys, and the run-up to Christmas. Luton also absorbs the overflow whenever Farnborough or Biggin Hill runs out of room, so its tight weeks are not always its own events.

On the ground

Off the aircraft and into the car

Business aviation is handled well away from the low-cost terminal, which matters more than it sounds. Central London runs thirty-five to fifty minutes, worse on a Friday afternoon than any published figure suggests. The train from Luton Airport Parkway beats the car more often than crews expect.

Alternates

Where we go when EGGW will not take the trip

Every one of these is a field we would put to you with the reason attached, not a list of nearby runways.

EGLF
Farnborough
Business aviation only and closer to west London, but movement limited and restricted at weekends.
EGKB
London Biggin Hill
South east of the city, business aviation focused, and usually the quicker option for anywhere below the river.
EGSS
London Stansted
Long runway and real capacity, which matters for heavy aircraft that Luton parking cannot take.

What we handle here