London Luton Airport

Our final throwback of the week! Who remembers our first terminal building and control tower?! This was how London Luton Airport looked back in the 1970's #LLA80

What a week! Thank you to everyone for celebrating with us! Turning 80 never felt so good! #LLA80 🎉

Liz Gallacher’s connection to London Luton Airport is one that dates back 80 years! Liz first worked at LLA from 2006 to 2009, before returning in 2015. It was obviously meant to be, as her great grandparents were here on the very first day in 1938 as Mayor and Mayoress of Luton. She says:
“It's surreal to think that 80 years ago today my great grandparents were here at the official opening and I now work here. Over that period more than 250 million passengers have used the airport and I feel very proud of my connection. I personally love to travel and by working here I have the pleasure of seeing passengers jetting off to one of our numerous destinations to create memories – it’s great to be part of the team that makes this happen.” #LLA80

Name the aircraft....😉 #TailfinThursday #LLA80

Todays #TailfinThursday is a blast from the past! #LLA80

Our 80th birthday celebrations have been in full swing since Monday! Who's already picked up a goodie bag and a macaron?! #LLA80

For most of his life and more than half of the airport’s history, Louis Whelan has been keeping LLA’s many vehicles on the move.
Now 58 and a supervisor with the Motor Transport team, Louis’s working life at LLA began as an apprentice in 1976.
His worst experience was when he was driving a yellow airport van that he crashed into a JCB. "They were digging up the road. I drove onto the grass to get round. There was a rut and that sent me straight into the JCB. It was a write-of...f. I made a mess of my myself and the van," he said.
LLA will always hold a special place in Louis heart as it's where he met Sue, his wife of 28 years! #LLA80
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Another throwback for you today! One of the early independent airlines at #LondonLutonAirport was Derby Airways. In 1964 Derby Airways changed its name to British Midland Airways, which then merged into British Airways in 2012! #LLA80

150 metres by 50 metres! Well, we did say we wanted to do something big for our 80th birthday! 🎉 🎂 #LLA80

150 metres by 50 metres! Well, we did say we wanted to do something big for our 80th birthday! 🎉 🎂 #LLA80

Today's the big day! 🥂🎈🎂 Happy 80th birthday to us! We'll be celebrating all week, so stay tuned! #LLA80

In celebration of our 80th birthday, Campari & Oriel Grande Brasserie have created a special Campari cocktail paying homage to the iconic 1970s advert with Lorraine Chase and in celebration of our brand new terminal! 🍹
Available from Monday at Oriel in our new terminal! #LLA80

Beautiful shots from @matt_dvc of easyJet's first, Airbus A321 NEO arriving at LLA. Great to see the roll out programme of these new quieter aircraft gathering pace. 😍😍

Oh how we've changed! This aerial view shows Luton Aerodrome as it was just days before the opening in 1938! Head over here for more of our archives! 👉 https://www.london-luton.co.uk/80 #LLA80

Brothers, Pete and Will Gibbs are used to doing things together, (they even share a birthday)! and it’s little different at work. The pair both work in Airside Operations.
Pete, 35, joined the department after first getting a job in security. He told his brother about it and he followed him to LLA aged 19. "There is never a day when I don't want to come to work. There is a lot of variety. It is busy - the busiest we have ever been but we enjoy it."
Will, 32, said: "It is chee...sy, but it is like a family. Air Ops is tightly knit and everyone gets on well there is no bad atmosphere."
Although they are in the same department, the brothers are rarely on the same shift. Pete said: "We occasionally work together, but mostly I come on after him. I am doing nights when he is doing days so he tees everything up for me." #LLA80
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Happy Friday! 🎉 In celebration of our 80th birthday on Monday, we've been taking a look back through our archives. Who remembers seeing the old Britannia Airways at London Luton Airport? #LLA80

Airport stalwart Lynda Edwards has a powerful and vital job deciding who can go airside.
Lynda, who runs the ID unit, has been involved at the airport since she was just 16!
Now 62, she said: "Anyone who wants to go airside has to come and see us to get a pass. That is everyone from the Chief Executive to the cleaners.”... One of Lynda’s most cherished memories was in 1994 when her name was drawn from a hat as one of the people to fly on Concorde when it visited Luton. “I will never forget having Sunday lunch over the Bay of Biscay travelling at twice the speed of sound. On the final approach into the airport you could see literally hundreds of people who had come to see her”. Lynda believes no other job could live up to working in an airport: "Airports are like big families because you get to know one another. Once you get the aviation industry in your blood it is very difficult to get rid of it. It is fun to work here, there is a great atmosphere.”
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We don't want football to come home just yet, but ahead of today's game we're throwing it back to 1990! Here's the England football team arriving back at #LondonLutonAirport the last time we reached the world cup semi finals! ⚽️🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

We're taking another look through our archives this morning! This is the view of the new (intermediate) terminal.
There wasn't a tunnel on approach yet (now off to the left of this picture). Instead, traffic signals allowed aircraft to cross this road to get to the flying club. Can anyone guess what year this was?! #LLA80