London Luton Airport (LLA) has completed a significant £18million investment in resurfacing its runway.

The investment to upgrade the durability and performance of the runway ensures the continued long-term safety and efficiency of airport operations from a regulatory and safety viewpoint. 

The complex project was delivered over five months of night working by a 120-strong team of resurfacing experts, following months of meticulous planning to ensure operational impacts were kept to a minimum level. 

Work on the 2.16km runway commenced each night at 00:01 and completed by 05:45 ahead of the first scheduled flight to depart. Each nightshift involved more than 120 plant and vehicles, and required detailed planning with airfield operations, Air Traffic Control and teams across the airport including health and safety, motor transport, technical engineering services and security. 

Marc Wolman, Infrastructure Director at London Luton Airport, commented: “The resurfacing of the London Luton Airport runway was an immense, once in a generation project – the airport’s largest airfield engineering programme in two decades. A complex project of this scale will always present operational challenges and we are delighted to have delivered this critical piece of infrastructure safely, on time, on budget and with minimal impact on airfield operations or our neighbouring communities. Now, after more than 18 months of meticulous planning and execution, LLA has a new runway in peak condition to ensure a safe, simple and friendly passenger experience for the millions of travellers who pass through the airport each year.” 

The programme of works included a taxiway extension, the replacement of over 1,000 halogen runway lights with more energy-efficient LED units, and the installation of a new weather sensor for enhanced forecasting accuracy. 

Brandi Davey, Project Manager from Lagan Aviation, commented: “Lagan Aviation and Infrastructure are pleased to have completed the resurfacing of the runway at London Luton Airport, with over 130,000 hours of work to replace 30,000 tonnes of asphalt, and upgrade over 1,000 lights to LED. LLA is a longstanding client of Lagan, having completed its last runway refurbishment in 2006. This project has demonstrated what can be achieved with a shared goal, and a collaborative approach to project delivery. We look forward to future opportunities to continue this successful partnership, with LLA and its shareholders, AENA and Infrabridge.” 

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About London Luton Airport

London Luton Airport (LLA) is one of the UK’s busiest airports, operated by a consortium, of which the majority shareholder is AENA, the world’s largest airport operator, and InfraBridge, a leading infrastructure investment manager. Airlines include Jet2, easyJet, Wizz Air, Ryanair, Tui, FlyOne, Sun Express and El Al.

The airport is owned for community benefit by Luton Rising, a company wholly-owned by Luton Council, which has invested more than £500m in front-line, voluntary and charitable services since 1998.

The Luton Airport Express allows passengers to travel from central London to the LLA terminal in around 30 minutes. The service runs from St Pancras International to Luton Airport Parkway station and connects seamlessly with the DART, an electrically powered people mover that connects to the airport terminal in less than four minutes.

In 2024, LLA was named European Airport of the Year (10-25 million passengers) by ACI EUROPE, and in 2025 LLA received the highest possible rating of 'Very Good' in the annual Airport Accessibility report published by the CAA, assessing assisted travel service performance.

In 2023, LLA also achieved Level 4 of the globally recognised Airport Carbon Accreditation scheme, demonstrating that it is ‘transforming its operations to achieve carbon reductions in line with global climate goals’. With a maximum score of 100 and a five-star rating, LLA has been ranked as a sector leader for four consecutive years in the Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark (GRESB) benchmark of sustainability governance management and performance of major infrastructure assets worldwide.

LLA continues to be a major employer and a key economic driver in Bedfordshire — supporting 28,000 jobs and contributing £830 million per year to the local economy. 

Further information on London Luton Airport can be found here: https://www.london-luton.co.uk/ 

London Luton Airport Press Office
T: 01582 395333
E: pressoffice@ltn.aero

URL: https://mediahub.london-luton.co.uk/news/how-lla-rebuilt-a-runway-while-you-slept/30032026