Record-breaking August rounds off busiest summer ever
London Stansted rounded off its busiest summer ever with a record-breaking August, as 3.27m passengers travelled through the airport – up 6.5% on the same month last year.
The record total was almost 200,000 passengers higher than August 2025, also making it the airport’s busiest month on record.
Passenger numbers exceeded 100,000 on every day of the month, with 16 August becoming the busiest day in Stansted’s history, when almost 110,000 passengers travelled through.
Nine of the airport’s 10 busiest days ever have now taken place during August 2026, as strong demand for summer holidays, city breaks and visits to family and friends drove record passenger numbers.
The airport also recorded its busiest ever month for departing flights, with 9,097 departures during August. Aircraft movements reached record levels too, with 28 August becoming the busiest day ever for runway movements, with 708 movements.
August’s record performance followed strong passenger demand across the start of summer season. In total, 9.27m passengers travelled through London Stansted during June, July and August, up 5.4% on the same three months last year.
The airport’s rolling 12-month passenger total now stands at 30.7m, up 2.4% on the previous year.
Istanbul was the busiest individual route during August, followed by Dublin and Palma de Mallorca.
Spain remained the most popular country market, with more than 566,000 passengers, followed by Italy and Turkey.
Gareth Powell, London Stansted’s Managing Director, said:
“August has been an incredible month for London Stansted, with more than 3.27 million passengers travelling through the airport and every single day seeing more than 100,000 people pass through our terminal.
“Breaking our record for the busiest ever month, alongside our busiest ever day and a new record for departing flights, shows just how strong demand for travel has been this summer at the airport.
“Whether it was people heading away for a summer holiday, enjoying a city break, visiting friends and family or overseas visitors arriving to explore London and the East of England, our extensive network continues to offer the great choice, value and convenience we know our passengers really value.
“Across the summer months of June, July and August we welcomed more than 9.2 million passengers, making this our busiest summer ever, which is a fantastic achievement and a real testament to the hard work of our colleagues and the close collaboration with our airline and airport partners.
“While these records demonstrate the strength of demand for Stansted, they also underline the importance of our ongoing transformation programme. We are investing significantly in the airport to ensure we have the capacity and infrastructure to meet the needs of the growing number of passengers who choose to fly from Stansted, while also making their journey more comfortable and enjoyable.
“As we now move into the autumn, we’ll continue to ramp up our work to transform the airport while maintaining a sharp focus on delivering the best possible experience for the millions of passengers who choose to fly from London Stansted.”