Embedded Files
Volume 2 | Issue 6 - Travel
Article by Stephen Woodward. Edited by Tom Hercock. Additional research by Ellie Veryard.
For those not au fait with 1970s ad campaigns, the title of this article makes reference to a Campari television advert starring Lorraine Chase. This ad has haunted my fellow Lutonians and I for many years. The Campari ad campaign depicted a seemingly glamorous lady on holiday who is wooed by a gentleman asking ‘were you truly wafted here from paradise?’ her immortal reply in a Cockney accent ‘no, Lu’on Airport!’ A weblink follows for your enjoyment:
http://www.visit4info.com/advert/Campari-Luton-Airport-Campari/14583
Henceforth this has become the stereotype of a supposedly Lutonian accent (despite it being a Cockney one!). I once even had a maths teacher who was kind enough to inform me that ‘there are no t’s in the Lutonese alphabet.’ However the persistence of this advert’s joke shows just how central to the town the airport has become. Since its inception Luton Airport has played an important role not only in the history of Luton but also in the air travel industry.
Luton Airport had initially been opened in 1938 to serve southern England in the new era of air travel. The creation of a commercial airport in a regional town recognised the importance air travel was to play in the future world. However the onset of war necessitated a cease in commercial operations and the site quickly became a fighter base for the defence of London, in addition to an aircraft manufacture site.
After the war the site quickly returned to commercial operations offering flights to such glamorous destinations as Blackpool, clearly reflecting the holiday destination interests of the time. Yet progress remained slow until the early sixties and the acquisition of full customs facilities in 1962, coupled with the replacement of the previous grass runways with concrete. These innovations saw passenger numbers sky-rocket from 9,000 in 1960 to 133,000 by 1963. This increase was the dawn of the modern package holiday.
Here that infamous Campari ad once more has relevance. The whole joke we are encouraged to laugh at is that Ms. Chase as a Cockney lass is misplaced in the cosmopolitan European society that Luton Airport enabled her to get to. The rise of the package industry brought access to continental holidays to millions, flying from minor international airports such as Luton. Cheap holiday flights were the source of Luton Airport’s success and the business on which it was built.
Numerous charter flight operators originated at Luton Airport. Euravia, which changed name to the more renowned Britannia Airways (now rebranded into the faceless conglomerate of Thomson Airways) was by far the most recognised brand flying out of Luton airport. One of the biggest charter operators had been Court Line, a company which had pioneered the budget package holiday. However, the 1973 oil crisis caused by OPEC nations boycotting the West in the aftermath of the Israeli-Arab war led to a tripling of the price of aviation fuel. Court Line unable to maintain its low budget operations went bust and Luton Airport was plunged into crisis as aviation gas pushed the price of flying through the roof.
Recovery from the oil disaster did not arrive until the construction of a new terminal in 1985. The resurrection of Luton Airport was thus underway as new airlines Monarch and Ryanair moved in to take advantage of the new facilities. Although the airport was struck a blow by Ryanair’s decision to move its base of operations to Stansted in 1991, the importance of innovation and expansion was evident. For Luton to be able to be successful as an airport it needed to expand and improve much as it had done in the 1960s.
The tail end of the twentieth century placed Luton at the forefront of yet another important development in the travel industry with the rise of the budget airline. Luton Airport is famed for being the hub of no frills Easyjet who started operations in 1995. The rise of passenger numbers yet again necessitated expansion and a shiny new silver terminal was opened in 1999. Luton Airport’s reliance on cheap and cheerful short haul operators like Easyjet and its enduring popularity as a package holiday airport has actually been its saving grace rather than naff characteristic as espoused by the nice marketing people at Campari. Luton saw the smallest drop in passenger numbers out of any London airport during the post 9/11 panic, lacking scheduled transatlantic flights that clog the departure boards of other London airports.
The other three main London airports (Gatwick, Stansted and Heathrow) are now running at 90% or above capacity, while Luton is only at 48%. Luton thus looks most likely to take on the slack of expanding air traffic. However for Luton Airport to sustain itself long term it has to expand as it has in the past. There has been great opposition in the last few years to such a development with protest groups citing that in addition to the noise, the fifteenth century Someries Castle (a scheduled ancient monument) would have to be demolished to make way for a new runway. Though it seems as the airport is now undoubtedly the lifeblood of the town the distant remnants of its past can’t hold back the future livelihood of the local populace. Following the demise of the hatting industry, and then Vauxhall, Luton Aiport has become what the town is now known for, in addition to its largest employer. The airport has played an important role in the recent history of Luton and is set to take on an ever increasingly central one. In some ways the best thing about Luton is the means one has of escaping it, even if the advert will follow me for the rest of my life!
*****
The Campari commercials reputedly inspired the 1979 record ‘Luton Airport’ by Cats U.K. featuring the lyrics “We had our little romance, we had our little thing, two weeks in Majorca and he wants to buy a ring, then I thought he’d left me, at the airport on my own, turns out he’s the captain on the plane that’s going home, to Luton airport.” (written by Paul Curtis and John Worsley).
The airport serves 16 airlines, five of which are cargo.
Luton Airport is the subject of ITV documentary Luton Airport (originally running 2005-2008) and Airline, a documentary following EasyJet staff across several airports.
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