BBC News
09 April 2024
Travel through Luton Airport now and passengers may spot the burned-out remnants of what used to be Terminal Car Park 2. The fire on 10 October grounded aircraft, disrupted the travel plans of thousands and trapped 1,300 vehicles inside.
Last month a joint report by Bedfordshire's fire and police services said the blaze was "accidental", finding most probable cause of the fire was an electrical fault or a component failure in a moving diesel vehicle.
The car park itself was part of a multi-million pound modernisation programme, opening in 2019.
It was designed without sprinklers and at the time of the blaze Andy Hopkinson, the county's chief fire officer, said: "We are already talking to the airport about ensuring that any future, and the existing, car parks have sprinklers fitted... sprinklers may have made a positive impact on this incident."
Mr Oli Jaycock, the director of corporate affairs at Luton Airport said that the fire service was consulted when plans were submitted in 2017 and that it "made no recommendation as part of the building control consultation process".
He added: "The car park design fully met all fire and safety regulatory requirements."
[Read more: Luton Airport: 'Car park fire turned my life upside down' - BBC News]
