At Luton Airport, all flights have been impacted after a massive fire partially collapsed one of its multi-storey parking garages.
After Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted, and Manchester, Luton is the fifth busiest airport in Britain, handling 13.3 million passengers in 2017, according to the Civil Aviation Authority.
The building has seen a “significant structural collapse”, according to the fire department, and one-half of the parking lot has been “fully involved in the fire”.
The blaze spread quickly after one car initially caught fire.
Is my flight cancelled from Luton?
All flights are cancelled until 3pm, Luton airport has said in a statement.
Update at 07:10 pic.twitter.com/WXCrmUcLih
— London Luton Airport (@LDNLutonAirport) October 11, 2023
“Emergency services remain on the scene following last night’s fire in Terminal Car Park 2.
“Our priority remains supporting the emergency services and the safety of our passengers and staff. Therefore, we have now taken the decision to suspend all flights until 3pm on Wednesday 11th October.
“Passengers are advised not to travel to the airport at this time, as access remains severely restricted.”
What happened at Luton airport?
After the fire started just before 9pm on Tuesday, footage posted online showed massive flames and billowing smoke rising from the top level of the parking lot.
Looks like the whole car park has just fallen down through the flames!#LutonAirport pic.twitter.com/FHbG80rXKu
— Robson O'Reardon🎗 (@RobsonOReardon) October 10, 2023
Crazy scenes at #LutonAirport last night, fortunately nobody suffered any serious injury.
— Mark (@_phantom_1974) October 11, 2023
Due to a combination of so many cars catching fire and then the car park collapsing, hundreds of cars were destroyed pic.twitter.com/m8dQgwJglh
The airport reported that the fire had started from a car but did not provide any other information.
The fire brigade estimated that up to 1,500 cars may have been in the parking lot and suffered damage.
Fifteen fire engines and 100 firefighters tackled the blaze.
An airport employee and four firefighters were sent to hospital, but have now been released. At the site, another patient was attended to. They had been experiencing the side effects of smoke inhalation.
Flights have been halted because of emergency services support and staff and customer safety, according to the airport.
What to do if your flight is cancelled
Luton airport’s statement suggests contacting your airline for information regarding your flight and for queries relating to a parked vehicle or future booking, to contact luton.customerservices@apcoa.com.
For more information about your rights when flights are cancelled in all types of scenarios, please see our guide.
EasyJet apologised in a statement for any inconvenience and said, where necessary, it would arrange for travellers to stay in hotels and receive meals.
Wizz Air advised travellers to anticipate delays and cancellations.
