London Stansted Airport recorded its busiest ever year as it welcomed over 28 million passengers in 2018 – an increase of 2.1 million passengers and 8.1 per cent over the previous 12 months.
The month of December saw over two million passengers pass through the airport, up 10.3 per cent on the same month last year and the busiest December on record at Stansted.
The record-breaking performance helped maintain Stansted’s position as the fastest growing major airport in the UK and one of the top five fastest growing large airports in Europe.
The airport now serves 200 destinations across 40 countries, and offers more scheduled connections to Europe than any other airport in the world apart from Munich.
During 2018, the top five destination countries reporting the strongest growth by passenger volumes over the previous year were Spain (+331,000), France (+189,000), Germany (+187,000), Turkey (+176,000) and UAE (+123,000). UK-wide domestic traffic increased by 197,000 passengers.
The top five international destination airports recording the largest increase in passenger numbers during the year were Frankfurt (+176, 000), Dubai (+123,000), Naples (+95,000), Alicante (+92,000) and Nice (+91,000). Passenger numbers to Belfast increased by 301,000 compared to 2017.
London Luton Airport (LLA) experienced its busiest ever year in 2018, as 16.6 million passengers used the airport, a five per cent increase compared with the previous year with the top three destinations Amsterdam, Bucharest and Budapest.
For the month of December, the airport welcomed over 1.26 million passengers, a 19.7 per cent increase on December 2017.
In its record year, LLA marked the official opening of its £160 million redevelopment project, which will increase capacity by 50 per cent to 18 million by 2020.
The newly-upgraded terminal was opened in December by UK Transport Secretary Chris Grayling, and features 48 new shops and restaurants, including Chanel and Oliver Bonas’ first-ever airport outlet. The transformation also added 3,000 more seats, a new boarding pier and upgraded transport links.
