- Stansted welcomed 3.1m passengers in July 2026, up 6.3% year-on-year
- New monthly record beat previous high of August 2025
- Annual rolling total reaches 30.5m passengers, up 1.8%
- Spain, Italy and Turkey were most popular countries
- Emirates returned to double-daily Dubai flights, connecting to 140 destinations
London Stansted has recorded the busiest month in the airport’s history, welcoming more than 3.1 million passengers in July 2026. The monthly total increased by 6.3% on July 2025 and set a new all-time monthly record that beat the previous high of August 2025. The airport’s rolling annual passenger total now stands at 30.5 million, an increase of 1.8% on the previous 12 months. Daily passenger numbers topped 100,000 on 18 days during July, the most in any individual month at Stansted.
The record-breaking month saw demand soar as families headed away for the summer holidays, with many passengers taking advantage of Stansted’s extensive European network for short breaks and longer holidays. Spain, Italy and Turkey were the most popular countries served from the airport during July, while Istanbul, Dublin and Majorca topped the list of busiest individual routes. The airport has observed changing travel habits, with many people now taking several shorter breaks over the summer rather than one longer holiday, and the extensive European network meets that demand.
Stansted airport recorded 2,854,451 passengers in June, up 3.5pc on June 2025 and down 36.3pc on pre-pandemic. Rolling annual was 30,049,909, up 1pc on the twelve months to June 2025. The total for the first six months of 2026 was 14,398,215, up 2.1pc on the first six months of 2025 and down 6.4pc on pre-pandemic.
Long-haul connectivity from Stansted has been boosted with Emirates recently returning to double-daily flights between London Stansted and Dubai, allowing more people to connect onwards to 140 global destinations. The airport continues to invest and work with partners to enhance passenger experience, with July seeing the start of a trial of overnight Friday services on the Stansted Express. The appointment of Farrans to build new Skylink walkways marks the next major phase of the transformation programme as the airport delivers new facilities for passengers.
London Stansted managing director Gareth Powell shared: July marked a landmark month with more than 3.1 million passengers choosing the airport for the first time in its history. July saw the start of a trial of overnight Friday services on the Stansted Express, which has been very well received by passengers, and just last week we announced the appointment of Farrans to build our new Skylink walkways, marking the next major phase of our transformation programme as we continue to deliver new facilities for passengers.”
Stansted Express shared: the overnight Friday service trial has received positive passenger feedback during the initial operating period.
Airport passenger numbers
Aberdeen – Amsterdam – Belfast City – Belfast International – Birmingham – Bristol – Cardiff – CDG Paris – Cork – Derry – Donegal – Dublin– East Midlands – Edinburgh – Frankfurt – Gatwick – Glasgow – Heathrow – Kerry – Knock – Leeds Bradford – Liverpool – London City – Luton – Madrid – Manchester – Newcastle – Prestwick – Shannon – Southampton – Stansted –
