Stansted Airport reports busiest July for seven years
Andrew Harrison, managing director at Stansted Airport. - Credit: Archant
Stansted Airport recorded its highest July passenger total for seven years last month – and also saw cargo trade boosted by problems affecting the Channel Tunnel.
The passenger total of 2.19million represented a 12.5% increase on the same month last year, making it the busiest July at the airport since 2008.
Besides the start of the summer getaway, the figure was boosted in particular Thomas Cook’s launch of three new long-haul routes for the peak season.
These were to Orlando and Las Vegas in the United States and Cancun in Mexico.
It means that the rolling annual passenger total for Stansted now stands of 21.8m, an increase of 16.5% over the previous 12 months
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Cargo volumes at Stansted also continued to increase with 233,239 tonnes now having been shipped through the airport in the last year, up 9.4% on the previous 12 months.
The July total of 20,732 tonnes, an increase of 4.4% on the same month last year, benefited from some carriers adding extra flights in order to ease the supply chain problems caused by the backlog at the Channel Tunnel caused by a combination of industrial action and alerts over illegal migrants.
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“The beginning of the school holidays and our trio of exciting new long-haul flights have played their part in boosting passenger numbers in July – our busiest in seven years,” said the airport’s managing director, Andrew Harrison.
“It’s great to see a growing airport and over the last few months we have been growing at double the rate of Heathrow and Gatwick.
“It’s a real boost for the airport and it’s a great reflection on the East of England region and its economic vibrancy.
“During the month we welcomed the return of long-haul services to Stansted as Thomas Cook launched flights to Orlando, Las Vegas and Mexico.
“It was fitting to see those new flights depart from our newly refurbished Satellite One departure area.
“This £8million project forms part of our wider £260m investment programme to improve airport facilities and services for passengers and airlines.”
He added: “Looking further ahead, we are delighted to announce more good news on the airline front.
“Lufthansa’s new short and mid-haul subsidiary Eurowings will begin flights from Stansted to Vienna in November 2015.
“The airline will fly six times a week to the Austrian capital using an Airbus A320.”
