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London’s Luton airport has suspended all flights after a “significant” fire ripped through a terminal car park.
The airport said flights would be cancelled until 3pm on Wednesday and advised customers not to travel to the site.
Emergency services were on the scene throughout the night after a car fire broke out in one of the airport’s multistorey car parks on Tuesday evening, causing it to partially collapse.
Luton is the UK’s fifth busiest airport, and mainly caters to leisure traffic. It is the base for low-cost carrier easyJet, and handled 12mn passengers in 2022.
EasyJet said it had cancelled 70 flights because of the airport closure, adding: “We are doing all possible to minimise the impact on our customers.”
A video released by Bedfordshire Fire and Rescue Service showed flames engulfing the third floor of the car park, and firefighters were still working to dampen down the area at 7am, nearly 12 hours after emergency services first attended the scene at Terminal 2.
“A severe fire rapidly spread through the structure and the severity of the fire has caused significant structural collapse. It is believed that up to 1,200 vehicles may have been in the car park at the time of the fire and subsequently damaged,” the fire service said.
“Firefighting operations were undertaken to control the blaze and protect nearby buildings, vehicles, aircraft, and the Luton DART [light rail system],” it added.
More than 100 firefighters tackled the “rapidly escalating” fire at its peak, the fire service said, and emergency services expected to be at the scene all morning. Four firefighters and one airport staff member were hospitalised.
Luton airport said its “priority remains supporting the emergency services and the safety of our passengers and staff”.
The airport told passengers expecting to travel on Wednesday to contact their airline.
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