Dozens of flights were canceled at London’s Luton Airport, which was closed until at least Wednesday afternoon due to the spectacular fire in a car park that left several injured.
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Images released by firefighters overnight show flames several meters high rising from one of the top floors of the parking garage, a very large building.
AFP
Dozens of flights had to be diverted to other airports on Tuesday evening and around half of the flights that were scheduled to take off or land on Wednesday at the airport of several low-cost airlines such as easyJet, Ryanair and Wizz Air were canceled. This corresponds to more than 140 flights or up to 25,000 passengers when the planes are full.
AFP
“We have taken the decision to suspend all flights until 3:00 p.m. (2:00 p.m. GMT),” the airport said on its website after announcing a 12 p.m. reopening overnight. “Our priority remains supporting emergency services and the safety of our passengers and staff.”
Local emergency services clarified on X (formerly Twitter) that five people – four firefighters and an airport employee – were taken to hospital. Another injured person was treated on site.
AFP
Passengers reported that their flight was canceled even though they were already on board. Others had to spend the night at the nearby train station due to lack of access to the terminal.
“It was terrible, the noise sounded like popcorn cooking,” said Marilena Ligea Stan, who had to wait 12 hours to leave the airport after arriving from Bucharest.
AFP
Robert Saunders learned that the airport was closed when he traveled there from the southwest of England. “The smell was really bad, there were fire hoses everywhere,” he described to AFP.
No fire extinguisher
According to firefighters contacted at 8:47 p.m. local time, the fire started from a car that appeared to be a diesel. At the height of the fire, more than 100 firefighters were on duty.
AFP
They were faced with “a serious and rapidly spreading fire involving a large number of vehicles and spreading to multiple floors,” said Andrew Hopkinson, head of Bedfordshire Fire and Rescue Service, during a press conference at the scene.
Nearly 1,500 vehicles were in the parking lot, which partially collapsed, but not all of them were destroyed, he said. There was no fire extinguisher on site.
AFP
“We are already in contact with the airport to ensure all future and existing parking spaces are equipped,” Hopkinson said.
Luton is located about 40 kilometers north of central London and is one of the British capital’s six airports. In 2022, 13 million passengers were transported there.
He advised passengers not to fly there “as access remains very limited” and to contact their airline.