Luton-10
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Very interesting reading the words from the CEO of LLAL two posts back.
What he appears to be saying is that despite the bull of 2 years ago he admits they got it all wrong and now need to start again at great cost to reduce the great cost. I have read that the bill so far now exceeds £50m in fees so that was value for money. So the aprons need to be smaller as does the terminal. More of the same then with overcrowded terminals and single lane aprons so leading to more push back delays.
No mention then about selling the family silver to keep the government happy. No mention about more government bail outs and more borrowings required due to another lost summer that just increases the debt.
With Stansted getting approval for expansion the case for Luton is greatly reduced but no they carry on. Someone seems to have lost the plot particularly when the council leader claims to know nothing of the new plans. Of course she could be telling fibs.
What he appears to be saying is that despite the bull of 2 years ago he admits they got it all wrong and now need to start again at great cost to reduce the great cost. I have read that the bill so far now exceeds £50m in fees so that was value for money. So the aprons need to be smaller as does the terminal. More of the same then with overcrowded terminals and single lane aprons so leading to more push back delays.
No mention then about selling the family silver to keep the government happy. No mention about more government bail outs and more borrowings required due to another lost summer that just increases the debt.
With Stansted getting approval for expansion the case for Luton is greatly reduced but no they carry on. Someone seems to have lost the plot particularly when the council leader claims to know nothing of the new plans. Of course she could be telling fibs.
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Construction update
The Dart station at Parkway is starting to look enormous and looks three times the length of an actual train. Clearly once money was no object.
Concrete has been poured for the first floor of the new build.
The testing of the Dart continues
The concrete structures at Central Station are being clad in louvered metal. The builders village has moved off site and now sits in the former temporary drop off zone.
The multi story car park over the drop off zone remains closed due to issues with the concrete.
Concrete has been poured for the first floor of the new build.
The testing of the Dart continues
The concrete structures at Central Station are being clad in louvered metal. The builders village has moved off site and now sits in the former temporary drop off zone.
The multi story car park over the drop off zone remains closed due to issues with the concrete.
Last edited by LTNman; 7th Jun 2021 at 18:43.
I suspect the Sun Express comes in empty because it's the start of the season, and most of their pax are Brits on holiday, ie departing 1/2 weeks before they return. I'm still not sure how Turkey being a red country affects the flights.
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I really can’t see many Brits heading for a holiday in Turkey if they have to pay £1700 each for a quarantine hotel for 10 days afterwards. Surely there must be next to no demand for direct flights.
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Luton can't accept passengers from Red List countries. They have to arrive in a designated port which from memory are LHR, LGW, BHX or BRS which is why it came in empty. As previous posters have mentioned Gazientep is not a holiday destination.
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If anyone wants to watch the meeting it is on YouTube. Listen from 5 minutes 25 seconds. The auditor report and discussion lasts a further 52 minutes, which is focused on LLAL. Seems to me that the prospect of the family silver being sold off could now happen as the auditors are not happy as the accounts for 2018/2019, 2019/2020 and 2020/2021 have still not been signed off due to missing information from LLAL and that predates Covid. The bottom line is whether LLAL a going concern since 2018? Seems the Dart could sink both LLAL and the Council.
Last edited by LTNman; 10th Jun 2021 at 05:19.
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I have mentioned here many times about my concerns regarding the secretive London Luton Airport Ltd. It seems that some Councillors have finally just discovered that the Council owned LLAL not only withholds information from the public, as minutes of meetings are never disclosed, but has also spent years withholding information from the Council’s external auditors despite requests. The question is why and what are they trying to hide?
https://www.lutontoday.co.uk/news/po...illors-3269823
The Council has also refused to comply with two requests from the Information Commissions Office to disclose the business case for the Dart. The suspicion is that there was no business case as the existing bus service was at no cost to LLAL, the airport or the Council, while its replacement is costing at least £243m with no guarantees it will run at a profit.
This is the 5 case rule the Council and LLAL won’t answer
https://www.lutontoday.co.uk/news/po...illors-3269823
A Luton Borough Council executive member described it as "worrying" that its airport company board might be reluctant to disclose information.
This is the 5 case rule the Council and LLAL won’t answer
Provides strategic fit and is supported by a compelling case for change.
This dimension of the five cases focuses on business planning and is the ‘strategic case’
section within the Project Business Case.
̈ Will maximise public value to society through the selection of the optimal combination of components, products and related activities.
This dimension of the five cases focuses on options appraisal and the identification of the preferred option and is the ‘economic case’ section within the Project Business Case.
̈ Is commercially viable and attractive to the supply side.
This dimension of the five cases focuses on the development and procurement of the
potential Deal and is the ‘commercial case’ section within the Project Business Case.
̈ Is affordable and is fundable over time.
This dimension of the five cases focuses on the whole life costs of the proposed Deal and is the ‘financial case’ section within the Project Business Case.
̈ Can be delivered successfully by the organisation and its partners.
This dimension of the five cases focuses on the implementation arrangements for the
proposal and is the ‘management case’ section within the Project Business Case.
This dimension of the five cases focuses on business planning and is the ‘strategic case’
section within the Project Business Case.
̈ Will maximise public value to society through the selection of the optimal combination of components, products and related activities.
This dimension of the five cases focuses on options appraisal and the identification of the preferred option and is the ‘economic case’ section within the Project Business Case.
̈ Is commercially viable and attractive to the supply side.
This dimension of the five cases focuses on the development and procurement of the
potential Deal and is the ‘commercial case’ section within the Project Business Case.
̈ Is affordable and is fundable over time.
This dimension of the five cases focuses on the whole life costs of the proposed Deal and is the ‘financial case’ section within the Project Business Case.
̈ Can be delivered successfully by the organisation and its partners.
This dimension of the five cases focuses on the implementation arrangements for the
proposal and is the ‘management case’ section within the Project Business Case.
Last edited by LTNman; 12th Jun 2021 at 06:14.
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LBC have turned a town asset into a millstone in a few short years. The airport owned by the town, sold off to pay for debts incurred by the Borough Council! May the perpetrators spend time behind bars! Master stroke if the concession operator gets handed the ownership!
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It’s a tragedy for the town. What is needed is honesty rather than the latest propaganda campaign that Kim Jong-Un would be proud of.
They are indeed unique. The only airport that would have bankrupted a Council without government intervention and all because of debt. The only airport that has caused 400 low paid staff including school dinner ladies to be sacked to save money.
If LLAL hadn’t gone on a borrowing spree by borrowing money from the Council then as soon as passenger numbers picked up so would have the dividends to the owners. LLAL are now saying there won’t be another dividend for years.
Let’s remember the airport still handled over 5m passengers in 2020 yet LLAL is on life support with the Council still throwing money it hasn’t got at LLAL.
The airport operator, who is refusing to pay the guaranteed £3m minimum payments claiming Force Majeure, continues to hold talks with LLAL. Are they manoeuvring to buy a stake in the airport so to clear LLAL debts? From memory the last time the airport was valued it came to around £650m. So who is holding all the cards now? Well it isn’t LLAL that is for sure.
This is why we own our airport in Luton: not only for the support we provide for front-line services, but also for the positive impact we make on individual lives with the help of our amazing charities and voluntary organisations. No other airport in the UK does this. And it’s thanks to your support that we are unique.
#ChangingLivesTogether #OurAirport
#ChangingLivesTogether #OurAirport
If LLAL hadn’t gone on a borrowing spree by borrowing money from the Council then as soon as passenger numbers picked up so would have the dividends to the owners. LLAL are now saying there won’t be another dividend for years.
Let’s remember the airport still handled over 5m passengers in 2020 yet LLAL is on life support with the Council still throwing money it hasn’t got at LLAL.
The airport operator, who is refusing to pay the guaranteed £3m minimum payments claiming Force Majeure, continues to hold talks with LLAL. Are they manoeuvring to buy a stake in the airport so to clear LLAL debts? From memory the last time the airport was valued it came to around £650m. So who is holding all the cards now? Well it isn’t LLAL that is for sure.
Last edited by LTNman; 13th Jun 2021 at 05:47.
If the airport is only worth £650m - i.e. about a third of what Arsenal FC is worth, something is seriously wrong. Airports are typically safe investments and when everything does get back to normal, it is a goldmine waiting to be exploited. In terms of fees, the airport probably makes on average about £10-15 per passenger that comes through it's doors.
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Out of interest, how recent was the £650m valuation?
Stansted was sold for £1.5bn in 2013 at 18m pax per annum. Probably explains why LBC are so desperate to hold onto it for now. Ride out the COVID storm and sell it just in time for the next election cycle?
(Although remains to be seen what the long term covid impact will be and if the airport can reach 18m pax again within the few years)
Stansted was sold for £1.5bn in 2013 at 18m pax per annum. Probably explains why LBC are so desperate to hold onto it for now. Ride out the COVID storm and sell it just in time for the next election cycle?
(Although remains to be seen what the long term covid impact will be and if the airport can reach 18m pax again within the few years)
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Don’t forget Luton is unique so has two valuations. There is the valuation of the concession, which has been sold in the past by the concession owners and then there is the valuation of the land and properties of LLAL. I have to confess I made a mistake, the valuation isn’t £650m as I stated but £615,712,000 as of March 2019 according to the LLAL accounts and that includes non airport land.
Quite apart from Covid, that LCY sale is felt to have been way overvalued. Dermot Desmond, who bought it as a little-used basketcase from Mowlem for about £75m (mainly the land value) and sold it for 10 times that in more recent times having invested so much extra money, time and effort into it, must have laughed that supposedly professional overseas pension funds and their valuation advisers etc were so gullible in subsequently trading it among each other. I don't think LCY, just 11 departures today, can be worth even a tenth of that now. I wonder how the auditors will lose that capital loss in the various owners' accounts.