Luton Airport flight paths change in safety move with Stansted

The changes affecting Luton Airport have come into force on Thursday

Flight paths and holding patterns for aircraft arriving into Luton Airport have come into effect.

The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) approved changes to arrival routes into Britain's fifth busiest airport due to its proximity to Stansted.

Luton's holding pattern will now take place over the St Neots and Huntingdon area of Cambridgeshire rather than over Royston in Hertfordshire.

The two airports are 26 miles (42km) apart by air.

Planes bound for Luton will use a new "holding" area in Cambridgeshire

The change comprises a new holding area near the A1-A14 junction at about 9,000ft (2,743.2m) over Grafham Water plus changed flightpaths for 70% of the airport's arrivals.

This holding stack will only be used during the busiest periods or if aircraft are prevented from landing immediately.

The CAA approved the airspace changes in November following a five-month public consultation between London Luton Airport (LLA) and NATS, the air traffic control provider, which garnered more than 2,400 responses.

London Luton Airport (LLA) welcomed 5.4 million passengers in 2020

Luton Airport and NATS said it would "simplify and modernise" the arrival routes for flights into the airport and separate them from those at Stansted Airport.

Separate arrival routes and a dedicated hold for each airport will "ensure continued safety and help reduce delay", both sponsors said.

They added that it will end the current situation where a "delay at either airport can also mean a delay for the other as aircraft queue in the same hold".

After a year of operation, the airport and NATS will submit 12 months of real flight performance data to the CAA so it can undertake a post-implementation review.