Disruption set to last 'for days' after burning car thought to have caused fireball through UK airport car park

Flights have resumed at Luton Airport after a massive fire tore through the car park and destroyed pretty much everything there.

The blaze began on the evening of 10 October at Terminal Car Park 2, and videos showed flames tearing through the car park which had been constructed in 2019.

Bedfordshire Fire and Rescue Service declared a major incident at 9.38pm, explaining that they believed the blaze had been accidental.

Over 100 firefighters arrived to deal with the inferno and flights in and out of Luton Airport were halted to give crews time to get the situation under control.

At one point, a fireball was seen tearing through the car park, destroying hundreds of vehicles parked there.

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Although flights from Luton Airport have since resumed, with planes able to depart again since 3pm today (11 October), the disruption to passengers has been significant.

Thousands of journeys have been thrown into chaos with as many as 30,000 passengers affected by the inferno.

Many flights were diverted to airports in Cardiff, Manchester and Liverpool, spreading the disruption to other parts of the UK.

Some passengers are stranded at Luton Airport with their cars in the neighbouring Terminal Car Park One, which was blocked off during the emergency services work.

As many as 1,500 vehicles were in the car park which caught fire and the knock-on effect of so many delays and disruptions is likely to be days of chaos, according to BBC.

With so many planes cancelled or diverted because of the disruption, you're advised to check with your airline to make sure you know what their advice to passengers is.

While Luton Airport has resumed flights, the consequences of the wrench which was thrown into people's travel plans means it is likely to be several days worth of difficulties for some travellers.

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Chair of Luton Rising, who own the airport, Javeria Hussain told the BBC: "This is a major operation and we are working extremely closely with the operator to ensure it's business as usual for the airport as quickly as possible.

"Disruption is likely to continue until travelling to the airport becomes normal again and passengers should check with their airline."

Earlier this year, when a 'technical issue' affected air traffic control and left planes grounded it caused days worth of issues which took a long time to resolve.

In general, anyone worried about the problems their travel plans might face should check, double check and triple check with their airline whether anything has changed.

Bedfordshire Fire and Rescue Service's chief fire officer Andrew Hopkinson said the blaze likely started from a diesel-powered vehicle as he suggested that an electrical fault with the car's 12 volt battery system would be the most likely reason.

Diesel is much less flammable than petrol so it would have taken 'intense pressure or sustained flame' to trigger the inferno.