Facts and figures

Facts and figures about London Stansted Airport

London Stansted Airport terminal

London Stansted Airport is London's third airport, serving over 27m passengers each year. It is the only major London airport with significant runway capacity and offers a European route network which is unrivalled in the UK, providing London with more visitors from Europe than any other airport.

Operating hours

24 hours a day, 365 days a year
Night quota restrictions apply during period 23:30 - 06:00

Passengers statistics

Passengers per year: 27 million (Sept 2018)
Third-busiest airport in London; fourth-busiest in the UK
50:50 ratio between UK and non-UK passengers

Airlines and aircraft movements

Airlines and tour operators: 22+
Air Transport Movements: 198,124 (Aug 2018)
Destinations:  200+
Countries served: 40+
Most European destinations of any UK airport – 2nd most in Europe behind Munich

Facilities

  • Number of runways: 1
    • Runway length: 3,049m long by 46m wide
    • Total retail space: 10,608 sqm
    - Shops, restaurants and cafes: 50+
    • Check-in capacity: 100+ check-in desks 
    • Car parking spaces: 35,000
    • Number of aircraft parking stands: up to 110
    • Rail link to central London: Stansted Express, 47 minutes to London.
    • 53% of passengers use public transport to travel to and from the airport (CAA data)

Investment

  • MAG has spent £150 million improving the terminal facilities since acquisition in 2013 and is investing over £600 million in the largest airport transformation programme since the terminal opened in 1991
    • Regional economic contribution: £1 billion a year 
    • Employs: 12,000+ on-site employees across over 200 companies
    • Cargo: Over 264,000 tonnes of air cargo (12 months to end April 2018)

Environment

  • First UK airport to hold both ISO14001 and OHSAS18001 standard

  • Awarded Carbon Trust Standard

  • Awarded Level 3+ carbon neutral status by the Airports Council International (ACI)

  • Biomass boiler installed as part of £50million terminal extension, making development carbon neutral

Destinations

Top international destinations (in order)

Dublin
Rome
Malaga
Barcelona
Cologne

Top UK destinations (in order)

Edinburgh
Belfast
Glasgow

Most popular country

Spain

Opened

1991 on site of the former airport – an airfield built by USAF during World War II. London Stansted became a commercial airport in 1966

Owned and operated by

Manchester Airports Group

CEO

Ken O'Toole

Location

Click here to visit our section on getting to and from the airport.

Community relations

Find out more about community relations at London Stansted Airport

Responsible business

Find out more about our approach to responsible business