During the month, over 1.74 million passengers passed through Stansted, an increase of 5.0% over January last year and surpassing the previous record of 1.66 million passengers also set in January 2016.
Aircraft load factors also hit a record high for the month of January with an average of 81.4% of all available seats occupied on every flight. This beat the previous high of 79.2% set last year.
In the 12 months ending January 2017, Stansted’s passenger numbers grew by 7.3% over the previous year with the moving annual total rising to 24.4 million.
The positive start to the year was boosted by the news both Ryanair and British Airways will launch new services and additional flights to a number of popular destinations from Stansted for summer 2017.
Andrew Cowan, Stansted Airport’s CEO, said: “We have begun 2017 in a similarly positive way to how we ended 2016, with a record number of passengers for the month of January taking advantage of the extensive range of destinations available from Stansted.
“In addition, and in a further boost to growth, it was fantastic to hear both Ryanair and British Airways announcing they will be launching a host of new services and increasing frequency on a range of popular destinations and holiday hotspots across the summer season, including Florence, Copenhagen, Nice, Naples and Geneva. This is excellent news for Stansted as we continue to grow our route network and even better news for passengers across London and the east of England looking for more choice and great value flying from their local airport.”
About London Stansted Airport
London Stansted Airport is the third largest in London (4th in UK) serving over 24 million passengers a year.
Firmly positioned as a market leader for short-haul travel across Europe, with over 180 destinations across 38 countries, Stansted serves more scheduled connections to Europe than any other airport in the world. With approval to serve 35mppa, it’s the only London airport with space and permission to grow, within its existing infrastructure.
Stansted also boasts an impressive and growing range of transport links that benefit from close proximity to the M11 and A120, as well direct trains to London and Cambridge and is proud to be the UK’s leading major airport (and one of the best-performing in Europe), with nearly half of passengers travelling to and from by public transport.
London Stansted Airport was named London Airport of the Year at the London Transport Awards in March 2016.
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For further information contact Stansted Airport press office:
T: +44 (0)1279 680534
E: mediacentre@stanstedairport.com
W: stanstedairport.com
twitter: @STN_PressOffice
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