London Stansted Airport recorded its busiest month on record in August 2026, handling 3.27 million passengers as traffic increased 6.5% compared with the same month last year.
The total was almost 200,000 passengers higher than in August 2025 and helped Stansted complete its busiest summer to date.
Passenger traffic exceeded 100,000 on every day during August, while August 16 became the busiest single day in the airport’s history, with almost 110,000 passengers passing through the terminal.
Nine of Stansted’s ten busiest days on record occurred during August 2026.
Stansted handles 9.27 million passengers over summer
The August figures followed strong traffic during June and July.
Across the three summer months of June, July and August, Stansted handled 9.27 million passengers, representing growth of 5.4% compared with the same period in 2025.
The airport’s rolling 12-month passenger total has now reached 30.7 million, an increase of 2.4% year-on-year.
“August has been an incredible month for London Stansted, with more than 3.27 million passengers travelling through the airport and every single day seeing more than 100,000 people pass through our terminal,” said Gareth Powell, Managing Director of London Stansted.
“Breaking our record for the busiest ever month, alongside our busiest ever day and a new record for departing flights, shows just how strong demand for travel has been this summer at the airport.”
Record number of departing flights
Stansted also recorded its highest-ever number of departing flights during August.
A total of 9,097 departures operated from the airport during the month.
Aircraft movements also reached a new daily record on August 28, when Stansted registered 708 runway movements.
The combination of passenger and aircraft movement records reflects increased demand across the airport’s short- and medium-haul network during the peak summer travel period.
Istanbul becomes Stansted’s busiest August route
Istanbul was the busiest individual route from London Stansted during August, followed by Dublin and Palma de Mallorca.
At country level, Spain remained Stansted’s largest passenger market, accounting for more than 566,000 passengers during the month.
Italy was the second-largest country market, followed by Turkey.
Traffic was driven by a combination of summer leisure travel, city breaks, visits to friends and relatives and inbound tourism to London and the East of England.
Stansted continues airport expansion programme
The new passenger records come as London Stansted continues a major investment programme intended to increase capacity and upgrade passenger facilities.
Powell said the growth in traffic reinforced the need for the airport’s ongoing transformation as passenger numbers continue to rise.
Work on the airport is expected to continue through the autumn while Stansted maintains normal operations.
With 30.7 million passengers handled over the latest 12-month period, the airport is now operating above its previous annual traffic levels as demand across its European and international network continues to grow.
