Luton & Stansted Airport Night Slot Restrictions Summer 2023 – Stansted Still Best London Alternative

Ops Update, United Kingdom

By Sean Raftery

May 22, 2023

2 minute read

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For more information on operating to the UK, visit our destination and regulatory guides:

London’s Luton (EGGW) and Stansted (EGSS) Airports both announced summer 2023 night slot limitations/bans. Here’s what you need to know:

Luton Night Slot Ban

London Luton Airport announced the night slot ban to go into effect from 1^st June to 20 September between the hours of 10 PM and 5:59 AM GMT.

The night slot ban was made due to the current airline schedules, which forecast that the night movements will be at maximum capacity.

Stansted Night Slot Availability

Universal Aviation Stansted

The airport will have limited night slots available. There will be 10 ad hoc night slots available per week.

The good news is that Stansted is now using a much more equitable system for slot allocation now, which will hold the slot request and distribute the night slot 10 days before the flight.

Previously, some carriers block reserving slots, meaning they will only be able to be accepted nearer the time.

Keep in mind that without a night slot, the last available slot would be 23:10L, and late running departures will be refused departure clearance should their pax be running late, for example. We were made aware of a situation involving a recent flight (not handled by our Universal Aviation UK Stansted team) that was late, and the passengers and crew had to stay on the aircraft all night and depart in the morning.

Learn more about operating to Stansted in our Business Aviation Destination Guide.

Conclusion: Stansted is the Recommended Luton Alternative

Universal Aviation Stansted While both Luton and Stansted will have night slot restrictions in summer 2023, Luton will be completely unavailable, while Stansted will have limited slots available.

Also, if you’re planning a mission to London anytime this summer, strongly think about your airport options, as fees and overall costs of operating to each vary wildly.

Parking alone at Luton could cost you up to five times more than at Stansted.

Universal Aviation’s award-winning Stansted location is available 24/7 to assist. For more information on this location, including a 360 view of the FBO, visit Universal Aviation London-Stansted online.

Our London Airports Destination Guide has a breakdown of all the region’s airports.

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Tagseggw egss london luton night slots stansted uk united kingdom

Sean Raftery

Sean Raftery has more than 30 years of aviation experience, including over 20 with Universal Weather and Aviation, Inc. Based in Stansted, United Kingdom, Sean was an airman in the Royal Air Force where he worked in air traffic control and squadron operations. In 2002, he was appointed Managing Director of Universal Aviation U.K. – London-Stansted and in 2010 took on the additional responsibilities as Managing Director of Ireland as well. Under Sean's leadership, Universal Aviation U.K. – London-Stansted and Universal Aviation Ireland, with FBO locations at Dublin and Shannon, have continued to grow and add new services, including the European Operations Centre and a new fuelling into plane business in Dublin. Sean has also been instrumental in Universal Aviation continuing to upgrade its facilities and recently led efforts in Dublin to relocate the location to a new, larger facility while in Stansted he oversaw the complete refurbishment of Universal Aviation U.K. – London-Stansted in time for the '12 Games in London. Well respected within the business aviation industry, Sean has worked closely with government officials to develop and implement industry leading Health and Safety practices and was highly instrumental in influencing the U.K. government for fairer and better immigration procedures for visiting business jet passengers.