LONDON Stansted welcomed more than 2.6 million passengers in September – continuing to surpass pre-pandemic volumes and delivering a tourism boost to the UK.

The monthly total was up 10% on September last year, and also ahead of the number of passengers served by the airport in September 2019.

The airport’s industry-leading choice, value and efficiency continues to drive strong demand from passengers across the East of England and London.

Stansted’s unrivalled European route network also provided convenient access to the UK for tens of thousands of visitors from many regions of continental countries that previously could only fly from main city airports.

The performance has been hailed as supporting a strong bounce back in international visitors to the capital.

The total number of passengers served at the airport in the 12-months ending September 2023 stands at 27.3 million, an increase of 32.2% on the previous year’s total.

Operational performance remained strong as 99% of passengers passed safely through security in 15 minutes or less, and an average queue time of less than four minutes during the main departure peaks of the day.

Stansted’s position as the number one airport in the UK for direct flights to Europe was again reflected in the top three most popular countries across the month, which were Spain, Italy and Turkey, while the busiest individual routes were Istanbul, Dublin and Palma De Mallorca.

Gareth Powell, London Stansted’s Managing Director, said:

“We are proud to provide people with more opportunities to travel in the way that suits their needs – whether that is by serving destinations that other airports don’t, or by offering great value flights at an airport that is easy to get to and easy to get through.

“That is what has underpinned our status as the fastest-recovering London Airport, a trend that continued last month.

“Demand for flights remained very high, not only from passengers across our catchment area, but also from overseas visitors looking for affordable and convenient access to the UK, and London in particular.

“Stansted is the second busiest airport for visitors to London thanks to our extensive European route network that provides passengers from many regions across countries such as Spain, Italy and France with unique access to the UK, and avoiding the need to travel to main city airports to then fly to London.

The great value and choice of destinations available at the airport, plus the reliable and efficient operational experience we offer has proven to be very attractive to passengers and has driven our continued growth across the summer and early autumn seasons.”

Commenting on the latest passenger numbers, Muniya Barua, Deputy Chief Executive at BusinessLDN, said:

“Demand for international travel has bounced back sharply following the pandemic. London is a gateway for tourism across the UK so it is very positive that London Stansted, alongside the capital’s other airports, are seeing such strong growth in passenger numbers. We are campaigning to restore VAT-free shopping for international visitors to encourage even more overseas tourists to visit the UK and boost the economy.”