The airport is seeking consent to increase passenger numbers from 18 million a year to 32 million.

This will involve adding extra terminal capacity, extending the current airfield platform, creating new airside and landside facilities, and making accessibility improvements, including extending the recently opened Luton Dart service.

Other ambitions include landscaping, ecological and infrastructure projects Luton says will help the airport achieve zero-emission ground operations by 2040.

The wider Luton Rising application for a development consent order (DCO) was lodged late last month following more than four years of consultation, and has this week been cleared to proceed to a detailed examination by the government’s Planning Inspectorate – a process likely to take around 18 months.

It means subject to consent being granted, preliminary construction work could start in early 2025.

Ahead of the examination, members of the public and other stakeholders will be able to register as interested parties by making relevant representations to the Planning Inspectorate.

Graham Olver, Luton Rising chief executive, said: "We now move into the pre-examination phase, which triggers the opportunity for interested parties to submit their comments about the proposed development to the Planning Inspectorate. In the near future, people will be able to submit their feedback, and their thoughts and opinions will be welcomed."

The development will feature a green controlled growth framework, which would enshrine in law binding and independently monitored environmental limits on carbon emissions, air quality, noise and access.

Luton airport claims that for every passenger above the airport’s current capacity, an additional £1 will be invested in programmes serving Luton and its neighbouring communities tacking issues such as deprivation and decarbonisation.