Stansted Airport has passed the 20million passengers a year milestone for the first time since 2009 after a busy start to 2015.

The airport’s rolling annual passenger total to the end of January was 13.3% up on the previous 12 months at 20.3m, having totalled 19.98m for the calendar year of 2014.

January’s total was up by more than 28% with an additional 326,000 passengers passed through the airport compared with the same month a year earlier to make it the busiest January at Stansted since 2007 and the highest monthly rate of growth since April 2004.

During the year to the end of January, Stansted served more than 170 destinations across Europe and North Africa, with the top five most popular destinations being Dublin, Rome, Barcelona, Milan and Madrid.

Andrew Harrison, managing director at Stansted Airport, said: “To be the UK’s fastest growing major airport and pass the symbolic 20m passenger milestone just four months after breaking through the 19m a year figure is a fantastic achievement and a clear demonstration of the popularity and importance our passengers place on the extensive route network we offer with our airline partners at Stansted.

“Stansted serves over 170 destinations and provides more scheduled routes into Europe than any other UK airport. It’s this connectivity that continues to drive our rapid passenger growth along with the strength of our thriving catchment area at the heart of the growing and increasingly successful London-Stansted-Cambridge economic corridor.

“We recognise it’s really important we provide quick, easy and regular access to major cities across Europe so I’m delighted we now offer at least four flights a day to key destinations including Barcelona, Rome, Milan, Rome, Madrid and Dublin. This connectivity makes the airport even more attractive, especially to business travellers who rely on convenience, choice and flexibility.”

He added: “Our focus now is to build on this success and continue to support the growth ambitions of the region by offering more choice and attracting new airlines, including full service scheduled carriers and the long-haul routes that the region demands and value so highly.

“In the coming year we will complete the £80m project to transform the terminal and passenger facilities, deliver an £8m upgrade to the Satellite One departures area as part of our strategy to attract new airlines, open a new Escape passenger lounge as well as launch a £500,000 education centre for local schools in what promises to be a very exciting and defining phase of Stansted’s continuing evolution.”

Kenny Jacobs, chief marketing officer at Ryanair, said: “As London Stansted’s biggest airline, Ryanair is pleased to continue to deliver millions of passengers as we carry 17m Ryanair customers to and from Stansted this year and grow by 12%.

“Our six new London Stansted routes to Clermont, Cologne, Deauville, Edinburgh, Glasgow International and Ponta Delgada (Azores) are booking fast, while we also have extra flights on 40 other routes.

“UK visitors and customers can choose from a total of 130 exciting Stansted summer routes, including our Edinburgh and Glasgow services, which we are increasing from three to four times daily, in response to phenomenal demand from UK customers, visitors and business travellers.”