The FINANCIAL — London Stansted has reached another significant milestone as it welcomed over 26 million passengers to the airport in the last year.
The airport’s busiest ever February, boosted by the half-term getaway, saw over 1.7 million passengers pass through the terminal, an increase of 79,000 or 4.8 per cent over the same month in 2017, the previous record for February, according to London Stansted.
Popular countries for those passengers wanting to hit the slopes included France, Italy, Switzerland and Austria while those heading for some winter sun jetted off to the Canary Islands, Turkey and the Spanish mainland. Countries reporting the largest year-on-year growth were Denmark and the Czech Republic.
The rolling 12-month total of 26 million passengers is an increase of nearly 1.7 million over the previous year or 6.8 per cent, and the highest annual total recorded at Stansted.
The volume of cargo handled at Stansted in February was up 2.1 per cent on the same month in 2017, with 19,477 tonnes passing through the airport.
“To pass another significant passenger milestone is a clear indication of Stansted’s continuing success in growing our route network and providing passengers from London and the East of England with even more choice.
We expect Stansted to be the fastest growing airport in the UK this year with new long-haul services launching to Dubai, USA and Canada in the coming months in addition to continued growth from our existing airlines. It’s vital we now plan ahead to consider how we best meet this growing demand in the most responsible and sustainable way.
We recently submitted a planning to seek permission to grow the number of passengers we serve by an additional eight million a year but with a commitment to do so within our existing flight and noise approvals. This is crucial in supporting international connectivity over the next decade as Stansted is the only London airport with significant available runway capacity.
We also remain focused on ensuring our facilities and service levels keep pace with growing passenger numbers to provide the best airport experience. As part of our £600 million investment programme we are now in the process of identifying the contractors to build our new £130 million arrivals terminal plus the £200 million revamp of our existing terminal building,” Ken O’ Toole, CEO of London Stansted.
