Luton Municipal Airport was opened on 16 July 1938 by the Secretary of State for Air, Kingsley Wood.

Although it was designed specifically to serve Luton Airport, it was also given the parkway name, a title applied to British railway stations that have been designed as a park and ride railway station with motorists in mind, providing car parking facilities for commuters travelling onwards into London.

Initially these were operated by National Car Parks on behalf of the airport's owners and provided passengers with a free transfer.

[citation needed] With the opening of the cross-London Thameslink route 11 years earlier, the new station provided a direct rail link from Luton Airport to central and south London, Gatwick Airport and Brighton, as well as the Midland Mainline Routes to the East Midlands.

[10][11] Services at Luton Airport Parkway are operated by East Midlands Railway and Thameslink mostly using Class 360 and 700 EMUs.

[12] The typical off-peak service in trains per hour is:[13][14] On Sundays only, a limited number of intercity East Midlands Railway services between Nottingham and Sheffield and London St Pancras International call at the station using Class 222 DMUs.

On Weekdays, a very limited early morning and late evening service between Derby and Nottingham and London St Pancras International calls at the station.

[23] The station is served by Arriva buses A, F70, F77 and 100 between the town centre and airport from the DART's Kimpton Road exit.