London Stansted Airport is on the brink of its biggest and busiest summer yet, with millions set to jet away over the school holidays.
In total, the airport has forecast around 4 million passengers will pass through Stansted over the 6 weeks that will follow schools breaking up at the end of this week.
This prediction also holds a fair amount of credibility too, with Stansted also announcing that its passenger numbers were just shy of pre pandemic levels for the month of June.
To be exact, total passenger numbers for June hit nearly 2.6 million passengers, which compares to just 98% of what June 2019 saw.
Comparing this year’s June figures to last year, the airport has seen an 11% increase in this period showing continued increasing demand for travel.
If we stretch back over the last year from June 2022 to June 2023, London Stansted has handled 26.5 million passengers, which if we compare this number to the same period from June 2021 to June 2022, that is a staggering 64% increase.
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Stansted Airport preparations in place
In order to take on the the large amount of passengers set to pass through during August and part of July, Stansted has been hard at work preparing the airport with the necessary facilities and measures needed to ensure the smoothest transition when flying in and out of the airport.
For example, Stansted has been successful in ensuring security is as seamless and hassle-free as possible with 97% of passengers passing through in 15 minutes or less during the second quarter of 2023 from April to June.
In addition, the arrivals hall has undergone a major refurbishment with new eco-friendly seating, improved food and beverage options and a new layout designed to accommodate a faster and smoother flow of passengers.
Furthermore, the arrivals hall has also seen a 50% increase in seating capacity with integrated tables and USB charging points and lastly the Burger King and Costa has seen upgrades to improve the customer experience.
Moving to the departures lounge, the quiet seating area has been upgraded with a total of 200 eco friendly seats featuring tables and charging points.
A big future ahead
Commenting on the expected summer travel boom, Jonathon Fowler, Chief Operating Officer said, “This summer’s getaway is already well underway as we welcomed 2.6 million passengers in June, which represents 98% of pre-covid levels”.
He added, “These numbers will continue to increase, and we expect this will be our busiest summer ever, with over 4 million passengers passing through during the school holidays”.
“In preparation for the getaway, we have upgraded our arrivals hall and quiet seating area in the departure lounge in order to ensure that passengers have the best possible experience”.
“They can be confident we are all working very hard and doing all we can to ensure their holidays get off to the best possible start when flying from London Stansted”.
With a successful summer around the corner, this follows the airport’s recent application for a terminal expansion.
This expansion will massively improve the passenger experience allowing the airport to take on more passengers and provide the necessary capacity to cater for them.
All this combined shows the airport has a big future ahead should the application be approved.
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