Airport cash ‘just buying favour’

The programme, which is expected to be worth at least £14million, is made up of a community fund for Luton organisations, a near-neighbour fund for those outside Luton but around the airport, an enterprise fund for small Luton businesses and a donation fund for partner organisations chosen by the London Luton Aiport Ltd. board.

The proposal was approved by the Luton Borough Council executive committee on November 22, and airport client manager Mark Turner said a decision on how much money will be given will be made once passenger forecasts for next year are made.

Harpenden resident and member of airport noise objection group LADACAN John Davis said: “Superficially it all seems very generous, but the more cynical of us would say it’s a PR exercise for the airport to show they are being good contributers to society. In fact it’s a tiny proportion of their total profits and they are just buying favour.

“It does benefit some local organisations, but I am not personally swayed by it. The airport are such a pain in the ears to us, such a nuisance, but perhaps we should at least get some money out of it.”

The airport currently has 11.5million passengers a year, which means the community funds work out as less than 1p per passenger.

Another nearby resident, who did not wish to be named, said: “This is simply a way of buying favours. It’s an absolutely trivial percentage of the airport’s annual turnover, but the airport is a massive disturbance to us that we are always being subjected to.”

The contract for a partner to administer and distribute donations to the community fund and near-neighbour funds is currently out to tender.

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