The number of passengers served by Stansted Airport was just shy of 20m in 2014 at 19.98m, an increase of 12% year-on-year, which makes it the ‘busiest year for the airport since 2008’.

 

 

 

According to STN it also makes it the UK’s fastest growing airport. The year finished on a high as monthly passenger traffic in December grew by 18.5% to over 1.56m – almost 250,000 more passengers than in the same month in 2013. The ‘Christmas getaway’ helped make the month the busiest December at Stansted since 2007.

 

This will be music to the ears of those bidding for 13 brand new retail concessions and three pop-up locations under the £80m transformation of Stansted Airport’s international departure lounge.

 

MAG anticipates that although some units may open in the summer of 2015, the majority of concessions will start operating in the autumn of next year. The £80m project, including a massive overhaul of the security and check-in facilities, will have taken just two years to complete.

 

Andrew Harrison, Stansted’s Managing Director, said: “We have made excellent progress on our £80 million terminal upgrade and we are now well into the final phase of this project as we complete the remaining bars, restaurants, shops and a new seating area in the departure lounge. This is geared towards transforming airport services and facilities and driving greater customer improvements.

“The past 12 months have been such an exciting period for Stansted, our staff and the millions of passengers who have used the airport. The significant growth in passenger numbers – including our busiest December and Christmas getaway for seven years – has seen Stansted once again become the fastest growing airport in the UK, driven by the improved commercial relationships we have successfully developed with our airline partners.

 

“We now look forward to building on the success of the last year during 2015 and attracting even more passengers, airlines and routes to Stansted. Flybe will soon launch new services across the UK and, in the summer, Thomas Cook will be launching long-haul flights to the USA and Mexico. The coming months will also see the opening of our new Escape passenger lounge in the terminal.

 

“We are determined to drive the campaign for faster and more reliable rail links between London and the region with our partners along the London-Stansted-Cambridge corridor and will continue to highlight to the Airports Commission and Government the important role Stansted will play in the UK’s aviation system over the next 10-15 years, and the critical importance of making best use of this existing capacity.