London’s Heathrow and Stansted airports today reported record breaking traffic figures for July, the former recording its busiest ever month and seventh successive month of growth, and the latter its busiest ever July.
Heathrow welcomed 7.9 million passengers in July and retained its status as Europe’s most punctual major hub – ahead of Amsterdam Schiphol, Frankfurt, Madrid, and Paris Charles de Gaulle.
It also notes that while passenger demand is growing with Heathrow’s busiest day ever on 1st August with 270,869 passengers, security queues remained short, 95% of passengers waited less than five minutes at security.
Heathrow CEO, Thomas Woldbye, said: “It’s that time of year when everyone is looking forward to their well-earned summer breaks and Heathrow is proud to play our part in delivering smooth and reliable journeys.
“We continue to break records as Europe’s largest and most punctual hub – adding value for our airline partners and passengers.
“To build on this success, we’ve set out a 100% privately financed plan to expand Heathrow, deliver extraordinary service, create wider and better choices for our customers, and grow the UK economy.”
Meanwhile, London Stansted reports that it welcomed more than 2.92 million passengers during the month, and also recorded its busiest day ever for departing passengers as more than 53,000 people took to the skies on July 27.
The daily total ensure that it was the busiest day of the year so far at London Stansted with more than 102,000 passengers passing through the terminal.
The monthly total was 0.9% up on the previous record high for July set last year and takes the number of passengers using London Stansted in the past 12 months to 29.97 million, an increase of 2.9% on the previous year.
Spain, Italy and Turkey were the most popular countries visited during July with Palma De Mallorca joining Dublin and Edinburgh in the top three busiest individual destinations.
Operational performance during the month remained strong, 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.
Anita Harrison, London Stansted’s customer operations director, noted: “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 has 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 incredible hard to ensure we maintain a smooth and stable airport operation and deliver the best experience possible for every passenger flying from London Stansted.”