London Stansted Airport sees busiest July ever with over 2.9M passengers

With the annual summer getaway already well underway, and driven largely by the end of the academic school year in the UK, London-Stansted Airport (STN) has reported that it saw its busiest July ever since the airport first opened as a civilian airport in 1966. In July 2025, the airport handled over 2.92 million passengers through its single terminal. This result has also been assisted in part by the arrival of a handful of new carriers and routes from the airport in recent months.

Not only did the airport record its busiest ever July, but it also experienced its busiest day ever for departing passengers. On July 27, 2025, with thousands descending on the airport for their annual summer vacation, the single-terminal airport handled over 53,000 departing travellers. The total number of passengers that passed through the airport that day also hit new heights, with an impressive 102,000 passengers using the terminal to either depart or arrive at the airport.

These figures meant that the monthly total throughput of passengers represented an increase of 0.9% up on the previous record high for the month of July set in July 2024, and takes the number of passengers using London-Stansted Airport in the past 12 months to 29.97 million, a year-on-year increase in passenger numbers of 2.9%. According to a statement issued by the airport owners, MAG (Manchester Airport Group), Spain, Italy, and Turkey were the most popular countries visited during July 2025, with Palma De Mallorca (PMI) joining Dublin (DUB) and Edinburgh (EDI) in the airport’s top three busiest individual destinations.

Tony Skerl / Shutterstock.comOperational performance during the month remained strong, added the MAG statement, with 99% of passengers passing safely through security in 15 minutes or less, with an average queue time of less than three minutes during the busiest departure peaks.

“The main summer getaway at London Stansted has got off to a very strong start as we welcomed a record-breaking number of passengers thanks to the airport’s extensive route network of more than 200 destinations, as well as the great value, convenience, and reliable service we offer to our passengers,” said Anita Harrison, London Stansted’s Customer Operations Director.

“This is always a very busy time at the airport, and with more passengers than ever before choosing to fly from Stansted, the hard work and dedication of all the teams across the airport have ensured their holidays have got off to a smooth and stress-free start. As the getaway progresses across August, we know we will see this strong demand continue, so our teams will be working incredibly hard to ensure we maintain a smooth and stable airport operation and deliver the best experience possible for every passenger flying from London Stansted,” Harrison added.

London-Stansted has been gearing up for its busiest ever summer season for some time, with around 4.4 million passengers expected to travel through the terminal during the six-week UK school holiday period. According to a MAG forecast published at the start of July 2025, between July 19, 2025, and August 31, 2025, the airport is forecast to welcome around 2.2 million departing passengers with a similar number arriving in the UK during the same period.

London Stansted AirportOn average, 100,000 people are expected to travel through the terminal each day during the holiday period, while the busiest day was expected to be Sunday, August 3, 2025, when 107,000 passengers were expected to use the airport, including 54,000 departing passengers. The peak arrival day is forecast to be Sunday, August 31, 2025, with 55,000 people returning to the UK at the end of their summer breaks.

More carriers, more routes

Driven by high demand for flights from London’s third largest airport, summer 2025 has also brought an expanded flight schedule with several new routes recently launched by Ryanair, Jet2, British Airways, Transavia, Air Algérie, Royal Air Maroc, and Sun Express, which have collectively added even more destinations across Europe, North Africa, and beyond to the airport’s destination list.

London Stansted AirportAdditionally, as recently as August 6, 2025, Lufthansa announced the return of a series of special series of flights from Stansted for the duration of Munich’s annual world-famous Oktoberfest. The German flag carrier is offering 14 flights to Munich from September 19, 2025, to October 5, 2025, departing at 19:50 from London-Stansted and arriving in the Bavarian capital at 22:30 local time using Airbus A320 narrowbodies of the German carrier.

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