Ryebridge’s invaluable work in helping London Luton Airport recover from the impact of a devastating fire has been recognised with a national award.
The Temporary Drop-Off Zone (TDOZ) contributed to LLA winning the Airport Achievement category in the prestigious Aviation Industry Awards UK 2025, which were held at London’s Park Plaza Riverbank hotel on Tuesday.
The TDOZ project was initiated following the fire and collapse of the multi-storey Terminal Car Park 2 in October 2023, and was deemed to be time critical due to the loss of revenue caused by the multi-storey car park fire.
The new TDOZ involved the relocation of the existing taxi rank, the diversion of the pedestrian walkway into the airport, a new car park, new street lighting, a new traffic system, a new barrierless payment system using ANPR (Automatic Number Plate Recognition), plus new signage, lining and street furniture.
The project had to be phased in such a way as to keep the bus terminal live with no delays, while ensuring the relocation of the taxi rank without disruption, and keeping easyJet, goods in waste away and the executive car park fully operational.
Ryebridge completed the work in just 13 and a half weeks, far ahead of the original timetable of 20 weeks, and even quicker than a revised 16 weeks, ensuring it was ready for the start of the school holidays.
Managing director Sean Scully said: “This was a technically complex project which took place in a live airport environment, and ensuring it was finished as quickly as possible while also to a high standard of quality was crucial to LLA’s operations. I would like to thank everyone involved in this project for all of their hard work in achieving this objective.
“We are delighted that the judges at this year’s Aviation Industry Awards recognised how important it was to the airport’s recovery after the fire, and are pleased to be celebrating this accolade with our partners at London Luton Airport.”
