Self Connection in London Luton Airport

Question

I am traveling from Malta to London Luton and from London Luton to Dublin with layover of 1hr 20 minutes between the flights I have no baggage. Will I make my connecting flight to Dublin?

Answer 1

Will I make my connecting flight to Dublin?

Maybe, but it's VERY risky.

You will need to get off the plane, go through immigration, get out of the secure area, head over to departures, go back through security and make it to your gate before the gate closing time. This assumes you can check in for your second flight online and already have a boarding pass when you arrive.

So it's not impossible and if all goes well you can make it, but there is no room for error or even a minor hiccup.

They say the gates close 30 minutes before departure but from past experiences this is never the case they always close closer to the departure time

The gate closing time has a legal definition. If you arrive at the gate after gate closing time your ticket is forfeit and they can legally deny you boarding.

Answer 2

Is it possible that you might make it? Sure.

Will you make it? Who knows?

If:

• Your incoming flight is on time or early
• You are not parked at a remote stand
• You are among the first off the plane
• Your carry-on luggage was accepted as such as you weren't forced to check it
• You can use the eGates, they actually work, and there's no queue
• You already have your mobile boarding pass for the next flight
• There is no queue at security

Then not only should you make it, but you should even have a little bit of time to spare.

But that can quickly derail, and it's quite rare that all of those are true. On average, without any substantial delays, I think you should be right on the edge. You can increase your chances a bit by picking a seat near the door, or buying fast-track for security.

You told us you are flying on a Wednesday evening in late May. I will consider Ryanair's flight arriving at 18:45 (FR3883). Flights later in the day are more likely to be late (as any delays during the day will have accumulated).

The last such flight arrived at the gate at 19:39, nearly an hour late (it was held for over an hour in Malta before taking off). The previous one was 16 minutes early.

I don't think Luton or the Border Force publish any data on passport control and security wait times, so it's difficult to say how long it takes on average (a passenger survey for security gives a self-measured 22 minutes, higher than most other airports), or what the busy times are. I wouldn't expect a Wednesday evening to be a peak time, but I'm not familiar enough with Luton.

The flight to Dublin at 20:05 is the last flight of the day to Dublin from Luton. So that means that if you miss it, you have to book and pay for a hotel (and transfers, and meals) yourself, in addition to either a change fee for the flight (if you managed to change your booking early enough) or a brand new, much more expensive, ticket.

That seems like quite a risky proposition to me.