The airport possesses a single runway, running roughly east to west, and is equipped with an Instrument Landing System rated to Category IIIB, allowing the airport to continue operating in conditions of poor visibility. All the airport facilities lie to the north of the runway. The terminal and aprons have a somewhat unusual layout, with ground-side access to the terminal being via a road (which goes under the taxiway) to a bus station, drop off area, taxi rank and short term car park on the runway side of the terminal building. Most of the aircraft stands are located on the northern side of the terminal building, away from the runway and connected to it by a ‘U’ shaped set of taxiways and aprons that together encircle the terminal.

The northern side of the U-shaped apron is ringed by a continuous line of hangars and other buildings, emphasising the fact that Luton is a major maintenance base for several airlines including Thomson Airways, Monarch Airlines and EasyJet. By contrast to the heavily built up apron area, the airport’s southern boundary is entirely rural with only a few isolated farm buildings and houses close to the airport boundary. An indicator of the importance of the airport to the economy of Luton is that Luton is reported to have the highest number of taxicabs per head of population in the United Kingdom. The airport has become even more critical to the future of Luton given the recent closure of the Vauxhall Motors factory.