The FINANCIAL — London Stansted welcomed over 1.98 million passengers during March, an increase of 5.8 per cent or 109,000 over the corresponding month last year and the busiest ever March at the airport, beating the previous high set in 2016.
The record breaking month completed Stansted’s busiest ever winter season as over 9.17 million passengers passed through the airport during the five-month period ending March 2018, an increase of 280,000 over the previous season high set last winter, according to London Stansted.
Stansted’s key role in supporting the region’s competitiveness and economic growthy through improved international connectivity was reflected by the strong year-on-year growth on popular business routes. The routes recording the largest increases included Frankfurt, Copenhagen, Hanover, Billund (Denmark), Munich and Belfast.
Jet2.com and Jet2 Holidays also celebrated the anniversary of its first flight from London Stansted on March 30th having flown more than one million customers to and from the airport during the year. Strong demand has seen the airline announce it will base ten aircraft at London Stansted from July having operated six aircraft at launch.
The annual passenger total now stands at 26.14 million for the 12 months ending March 2018, up 7.4 per cent on the previous year.
“London Stansted’s passenger numbers continue to increase at a rapid pace as we grow our route network, welcome new airline partners and provide even more choice.
The airport enables millions of people each year to head off on well-earned holidays or visit family and friends but it’s also clear Stansted is a key enabler for economic growth through improving international connectivity and competitiveness which in turn helps make our region even more attractive to inward investment.
We have seen really strong growth on a number of key business destinations across Europe as passenger numbers in March demonstrate. We have new routes to Dubai, the USA and Canada launching in the coming weeks, and have ambitions to add services to help access markets across China and India.
This is a key focus for us as we know businesses and business people from across the region we serve want the choice and convenience of more long-haul destinations available from their local airport, saving them valuable time and money associated with flying from other London airports,” Ken O’ Toole, CEO of London Stansted.
