LUTON: London’s Luton Airport suspended all flights on Tuesday night and asked passengers not to travel there after a “significant fire” caused the partial collapse of a parking structure.

Flames leapt out of the third floor of a car park at Terminal 2 of the airport, as firefighters battled to bring the blaze under control, according to a photographer at the scene.

“Our priority remains supporting the emergency services and the safety of our passengers and staff. Therefore, we have taken the decision to suspend all flights until 3pm (1400 GMT) on Wednesday 11th October,” the airport said in a statement issued early on Wednesday morning.

However, flights resumed late on Wednesday night after the fire was brought under control.

Five people, including four firefighters and an airport employee, were admitted to hospital, according to the local ambulance service. Another person was treated on site.

The fire broke out at 8:47pm (1947 GMT) in the airport’s newly built car park.

“It was horrible, the noise was like popcorn,” said Marilena Ligea Stan, from Romania, who had to wait 12 hours after landing from Bucharest to leave the airport.

Robert Saunders was on his way to the airport from Somerset in south west England when he found out. “You don’t know what to do, so we did the normal thing and got a coffee.

There was a really bad smell in the air, hoses everywhere. It’s terrible, absolutely terrible,” he said.

No sprinklers

The local fire service said its crew worked to extinguish the fire and prevent it from spreading to other nearby buildings and vehicles.

“Our first two fire appliances arrived on scene just a shade under 10 minutes later to work alongside firefighters from Luton Airport Fire Service,” said Andrew Hopkinson, chief fire officer for Bedfordshire Fire and Rescue Service.

Published in Dawn, October 12th, 2023