Mace Consult lands leading role on London Luton Airport growth programme

Mace Consult has secured a key role on the growth of London Luton Airport, having been appointed by Luton Rising to provide programme, project, cost and commercial management (PMCM) services. These services will help bring delivery certainty to one of the UK's most significant infrastructure programmes.

Mace Consult will be responsible for establishing the programme schedule, systems, controls and decision-making frameworks that will underpin the affordable and sustainable growth of London Luton Airport, following the programme receiving its final green light in August 2026.

Partnering with Arcadis, the team will shape an integrated delivery plan to increase the airport’s capacity up to 32 million passengers a year, combining incremental capacity enhancement with operational continuity, co-ordinating interfaces and proactively managing risk to maintain programme momentum.

Luton Rising is a Luton Council company that owns Luton Airport for community benefit. The expansion represents one of the UK’s most socially impactful airport developments that, when realised, will support thousands of jobs, catalyse local business growth and investment, and help deliver the ambitions of the Luton 2040 vision to tackle local poverty and inequality, and create opportunities for all. 

Across the UK, improving air connectivity is crucial to attracting international businesses and supporting growth, and carrying through the growth of London Luton Airport will create up to 11,000 jobs and £1.5bn in annual economic activity.

Drawing on deep aviation expertise and a global track record delivering complex infrastructure programmes, the Mace-led team will provide a host of services under the PMCM contract, including programme integration and planning, design management, commercial assurance, risk management, stakeholder engagement, consents advice and information management. 

Martyn Court, Head of Mobility, Europe, at Mace Consult, said:

“The London Luton Airport growth programme is at a pivotal stage, where bringing the right delivery partner on board can help transform complexity into clarity. Our appointment reflects this and, by combining the strengths of Mace and Arcadis, we’ll put in place the systems, controls, processes and governance that will enable Luton Rising to make informed decisions and progress with certainty towards increasing the airport’s capacity to 32 million passengers per year.

“While value-focused delivery for our client is paramount, at every step of the way our approach will align with the wider programme vision. We’ll work to unlock lasting economic, social and environmental value for Luton and the wider region.”     

David Pyle, DCO Implementation Director at Luton Rising, said:

“This appointment is a significant step forward in the airport’s growth programme, which will help drive economic and employment growth for future generations. We know we have a robust vision, having received consent from the Secretary of State for Transport in 2025, and now is the right time to bring in specialist expertise and experience-based rigour to ensure delivery of the consented growth at the earliest opportunity. 

“We look forward to having Mace Consult on board as part of our integrated multi-disciplinary programme team, supporting us and our stakeholders as we move the design and implementation processes forward.”