London Stansted records busiest ever day as transformation programme continues to progress
London Stansted's growing importance to the capital and wider East of England was reflected in a record October that saw nearly 2.8m passengers use its terminal.
Stansted also continued to make progress on its major investment programme, which will signal a further phase of growth over the next 20 years.
The airport welcomed 2.79m passengers during October, up 4.2% on 2025 and 113,000 more than its previous record for the month.
That included its busiest day on record - Sunday 25 October - when 109,881 passengers travelled through the airport.
Growth was driven by a strong October half-term and the popularity of flagship routes, including its direct services to Istanbul, which not only connect to the Turkish capital but onwards to more than 350 global destinations. More than 101,000 people flew to and from Istanbul for business or leisure during the month.
Stansted's unrivalled European network also drove growth, with Dublin and Edinburgh the second and third most flown to destinations. Spain was the most popular individual country, with 462,000 people travelling there, followed by Italy and Turkey.
The record October performance comes as London Stansted continues to make good progress on its transformation programme, which is designed to increase capacity, enhance operational resilience and further improve the passenger experience.
Progress was showcased during a recent visit by the Secretary of State for Transport, Heidi Alexander MP, who toured the airport and viewed work on the new skylink walkways that are key to extending the existing terminal building and unlocking future growth.
The Secretary of State saw how the project was progressing with foundation and steelworks underway while the skylinks are pre-assembly ‘offsite’ in a vacant airport hangar before they are transported across to the construction site in the coming months.
Gareth Powell, London Stansted's Managing Director, said:
"This was another landmark month for London Stansted, culminating in our busiest ever day and busiest October on record.
“The record passenger numbers reflect both the continuing strength of demand across our network and the busy half-term holiday getaway, which saw thousands of passengers, including overseas visitors to the UK, choose Stansted for autumn breaks and visits to friends and family.
“The airport now serves nearly 31m passengers a year and plays a key role in driving trade, investment and tourism for London and the East of England. With planning permission to serve up to 51m passengers over the next two decades, with provides us with a strong platform to unlock the spare capacity on our existing runway and deliver our ambitious plans to increase passenger numbers and help improve the UK’s connectivity with the rest of the world.
“In addition, we're also making good progress on our transformation programme. It was a pleasure last week to welcome the Secretary of State for Transport to the airport and demonstrate the scale of our investment, the progress being made to support future growth and enhancements to the airport experience for passengers in the years ahead.
"As this work continues to ramp up, we remain focused on delivering an efficient and reliable experience for every passenger flying from London Stansted while continuing to further develop our route network to support connectivity, trade and economic growth across our region."