Ryanair’s popular Dublin-Stansted route helped the London airport achieve record passenger traffic in February, according to its latest set of monthly operational performance data.
More than 1.92 million people passed through Stansted Airport last month, beating its previous record – set in February 2020 – by almost 50,000 people.
The airport said even without the extra leap year day, this year, passenger numbers would have exceeded all previous records.
Stansted said UK holidaymakers looking for some winter sun in destinations like the Canary Islands, Turkey, Dubai and the south of Spain boosted business, along with ski holiday goers to popular ski resorts in mainland Europe.
But, also short break destinations – particularly Dublin, Edinburgh, Istanbul and Barcelona – proved popular.
Ryanair has its UK base at Stansted and its Stansted-Dublin route is one of its busiest.
Jonathan Fowler, London Stansted’s Chief Operating Officer, said: “It’s been a really strong start to the year, and we’re certainly not seeing any let-up in the demand to fly as we now look ahead to the upcoming Easter break.
“The wet and cold weather here in the UK during February clearly encouraged many people to head off in search of some winter sun, but we also welcomed tens of thousands of visitors heading into London or sampling the delights of the East of England.
“We’re now gearing up for the Easter holiday which is always a busy time of year for the travel industry. Holidaymakers will again be taking advantage of the choice, value and simplicity of using London Stansted to catch some much-needed sunshine, visit one of Europe’s great cities or head to the Alps for some end of season skiing.”
Meanwhile, Heathrow also saw record passenger traffic last month. The airport – one of the busiest destinations out of Dublin for Aer Lingus – saw 5.8 million passengers pass through its terminals during February. Heathrow is now on track to serve more passengers than ever before this year.
Heathrow CEO, Thomas Woldbye, said: “It was wonderful to welcome so many passengers for the first holiday peak of 2024, setting a new Heathrow record. While we are serving more people, visitors to the UK are spending less since the removal of tax-free shopping, impacting businesses across the country. The Spring Budget was a missed opportunity to give the whole tourism, hospitality and retail sector the support it needs to compete internationally.”
