London Stansted rounded off the school holiday season by continuing to outpace the recovery of all major UK airports.
Figures released this week show that despite the significant impact of the national air traffic control failure on Bank Holiday Monday, August was Stansted’s second busiest month ever as more than 2.91 million passengers took advantage of the industry-leading choice, value and efficiency it offers.
The monthly total was up 12% on August last year, and equivalent to 102% of the number of people served in August 2019.
The airport also recorded its busiest day of the year with 100,561 passengers passing through the terminal on August 18. This daily total was the fourth busiest day ever at London Stansted.
The total number of passengers served at the airport in the 12-months ending August 2023 stands at 27.1 million, an increase of 40% on the previous year’s total.
Across the peak summer season between June and August, more than 8.31 million passengers passed through London Stansted. Operational performance during this period remained strong, with more than 97% of passengers passing safely through security in 15 minutes or less.
Customer service feedback in July and August was also positive with 93% of passengers surveyed rating their overall satisfaction with the service they received as good, very good or excellent.
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 summer season, which were Spain, Italy and Turkey, while the busiest routes were Dublin, Istanbul and Palma De Mallorca.
Gareth Powell, London Stansted’s Managing Director, said: “August rounded off what has been a very busy and positive summer at London Stansted, and cemented our position as the fastest recovering major airport in the UK with passenger numbers exceeding pre-pandemic levels for the second month running.
“Across the summer, despite very high passenger volumes and operational challenges such as the recent air traffic control outage, we have delivered a strong and consistent level of customer service with an average security queue time of just over six minutes during our busiest departure periods of the day.
“As part of our commitment to delivering great customer service, we continually survey passengers. In July and August this year, 93% of those passengers rated their overall satisfaction with the service they received as good, very good or excellent.
“We know our passengers really value a reliable and efficient experience when passing through the airport, and I’m very proud that thanks to the hard work and professionalism of our teams right across the campus, this is what we have consistently achieved throughout the busy summer season.”
