Stansted Airport has reported a 19th consecutive month of growth in passenger numbers.

October’s total of 2.048million was 8.6% ahead of the same period last year, with the load figure – a measure of how many of the available seats are occupied on flights – reached an all-time high for the month of 88%.

It was also the sixth consecutive month that passenger numbers at the airport have exceeded the 2m mark, the first time this has happened since 2007.

The rolling annual total of passengers using Stansted now stands at 22.3m, an increase of 15% over the previous 12 months.

Andrew Harrison, Stansted Airport’s managing director, said: “The significant increase in passenger numbers at Stansted continued during October as we enjoyed our 19th consecutive month of growth and welcomed over 2m passengers for the sixth consecutive month.

“The busy half-term school holidays helped boost passenger traffic with an average 88% of all seats on every flight sold during the month. This enabled the airport to serve over 2m passengers for the first time during any October since 2007.”

He added: “During the month we saw Scandinavian flag carrier SAS make a welcome return to Stansted after a 14 year break offering new daily flights to Gothenburg from our newly refurbished Satellite One departure area that is undergoing an £8m upgrade while in the terminal new passenger facilities including additional seating, new toilets and charging points became available.

“A number of brand new stores have also opened, including Hugo Boss, Superdry and Joules as the departure lounge phase of the £80m transformation nears its completion.”