Case Study: Stannah lift expertise for London Luton Airport

The redevelopment of London Luton Airport (LLA) features Stannah lifts, escalators and moving walkways. 

Stannah were contracted to supply an additional 7 passenger lifts, 2 platform lifts and 3 escalators for the expanding airport hub in 2016. 

Luton Airport was officially opened on 16 July 1938. During the war, it was a base for 264 Fighter Squadron as well as a manufacturing site where both civil and military aircraft were designed and built. By comparison, the site of Heathrow airport existed as an aerodrome in the 1930s but opened as London Airport in 1946 and was renamed Heathrow Airport in 1966.

Stannah Lift Services Managing Director, Peter Perry, comments:

‘Congratulations to our tender team who have secured two contracts at LLA. The first is for the supply and installations of new products and the second is the maintenance contract of all lift equipment at the airport. We are delighted to be part of this major infrastructure investment project for the UK and look forward to working with main contractor McLaughlin and Harvey and LLA .’

LLA invested over £110million to transform the Airport and increase capacity from 12 million to 18million passengers per year by 2020. The redevelopment plans included a complete redesign of the terminal, bringing in new and exciting retail and dining options, and major upgrades to transport links, including better road access to the M1, new car parking facilities, a remodelled bus and coach interchange and improved rail links.

So what do the clients think?

Ian Green, the Maintenance Operations Manager at London Luton Airport is more than satisfied with the Stannah South Midlands & Home Counties Service Branch and has heaped praise on the engineering team saying:

“I just wanted to say a big thanks to Craig (Biggs), Sophie (Healy) and Norman (Fitzgerald) for their time and expertise on site yesterday, supporting the upgrade of the North Goods Lift retiring ramps. I guess it was never going to be as straightforward as we all hoped but your team remained focused and committed to handing the equipment over to us at 20:00 hours which made it a long day for them, but also a successful one for us. The efforts of your team have not gone unrecognised and I just hope we all have an easier time with upgrading the South lift next Wednesday 17/5/17.

PS I am very impressed with the skills and knowledge of the Stannah team from the top through to the engineers.”

Brackley Branch Manager, Kes Wycherley, is delighted with his team and explains:

“The goods lift in question is essential to the retailers at the airport for their replenishment of stock. Parts of the lift needed to be upgraded and the work needed to be completed as quickly as possible to avoid any more downtime, hence the determination to get the job completed and put the lift back into service. I am immensely proud of my branch team, and most grateful to Ian for endorsing my confidence in them. The whole branch team have shared in the after-glow of this praise. It’s great to be told you are doing your job well.”

The south lift was successfully upgraded on the 17/05/17 & has allowed the airport to get back to fault free running, so the retailers can now relax and enjoy the busy summer period at London Luton Airport.

Stannah celebrated its 150^th year in business in 2017. In 1867 when Joseph Stannah established the lift company in London, flying was just a dream. At that point in history a vertical lift was an exciting innovation, the first lift in London being installed in 1860 in the Grosvenor Hotel.