London Stansted Airport reports busiest April ever

Both passengers and cargo volumes reached record highs, with a footfall of 2.48 million marking the busiest April ever.

This surpassed the previous peak in April 2019, with an increase of 90,000 passengers and a 5.5 per cent rise on April 2023.

The cumulative total for the 12 months ending April also showed an upward trend, totalling 28.64 million passengers, marking a 10.8 per cent increase from the previous year.

Equally successful was Stansted's cargo operation, with an all-time high of more than 27,000 tonnes of freight passing through in April.

This operation is crucial to businesses in London and the East of England who rely on international access to Europe, USA, Far and Middle East.

Ninety-eight per cent of departing passengers passed through security within 15 minutes or less; this included an average queue time of three minutes during peak departures.

Gareth Powell (Image: Stansted Airport)

Managing director, Gareth Powell, said: "April was another very strong month for London Stansted with both passenger and cargo numbers hitting new highs, thanks to our extensive passenger route network, the efficiency and simplicity of the airport’s operation and the global connectivity provided by our cargo carriers.

"The Easter holidays at the start of the month were particularly busy, but thanks to the dedication and teamwork shown by colleagues right across the airport, we were able to deliver a smooth airport journey for our passengers.

 "The record volumes of freight passing through Stansted is yet another indication of the vital role the airport plays."

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Harriet Fear MBE, director at Cambridge&, added: "London Stansted is widely recognised as being crucially important to the economic success of the East of England through its extensive and growing passenger operation.

"The record-breaking freight figures demonstrate that it also plays a key role in the movement of goods and products across the world.

 "With Stansted on Cambridge's doorstep, businesses in the Greater Cambridge ecosystem are able to quickly and conveniently connect to markets across Europe and the Middle East directly for passenger travel and from a freight perspective also to the US and Asia, meaning truly global connectivity."