11
May
2018
|
12:26
Europe/Amsterdam

New airlines and route launches help drive record passenger numbers at London Stansted

Summary

Primera Air and WOW air launch new long-haul services to the USA

I5 new routes and increased frequencies add to busiest ever summer schedule

Stansted is the fastest growing London airport in April 2018

London Stansted Airport saw record numbers of passengers travelling last month in its busiest ever April. More than 2.3 million passengers used the airport, which is an 8.1% increase on last year, the previous record for the same month.

April’s numbers were boosted by the official start of the summer flying schedule, which this year include new routes, new airlines and 10.8 million seats on offer to 190 destinations.

In the 12 months ending April 2018, Stansted’s passenger numbers grew by 7.1% compared with the previous year, bring the moving annual total to 26.3 million.

Ken O’ Toole, CEO of London Stansted
London Stansted will be the fastest growing London airport in 2018 and this record April is just the start of a very busy summer to come.

Growth from airlines including Jet2.com and Ryanair make up a large proportion of the additional 1.2 million seats available over the summer compared to 2017. We welcomed two new airlines to Stansted in April – Primera Air and WOW air offering long-haul flights to the USA – and this month we also saw the arrival of Air Corsica. Added to all this, the very exciting launch of Emirates’ daily service to Dubai is now less than a month away.

With limited spare capacity at other airports in the South East, Stansted will deliver 50 percent of London’s expected passenger growth over the next decade. Given this anticipated growth, we have applied for permission to raise the number of passengers we serve to 43 million a year, with a firm commitment to do so without any additional flights or noise impacts beyond our current permissions.

We are also investing heavily to ensure the passenger experience is an efficient, comfortable one even as we continue to grow. We have recently opened 12 new check-in desks and are adding additional seating and restaurant facilities in time for the summer peak so I’m confident this investment coupled with our new and existing range of airlines and destinations will bring even more passengers to Stansted in the coming months.
Ken O’ Toole, CEO of London Stansted