Passenger numbers at Stansted Airport rose for the 19th consecutive month as more than 2 million people passed through the Essex hub in October.

The figures, released by the airport today (November 11), show it was the sixth consecutive month that passenger numbers exceeded the 2million mark, and the first time since 2007 that the airport served more than 2million passengers in October.

The total number of passengers using Stansted in the last year rose to 22.3 million, an increase of 15% over the previous 12 months.

Andrew Harrison, Stansted Airport’s managing director, said: “The busy half-term school holidays helped boost passenger traffic with an average 88% of all seats on every flight sold during the month. This enabled the airport to serve over two million passengers for the first time during any October since 2007.

“During the month we saw Scandinavian flag carrier, SAS make a welcome return to Stansted after a 14 year break, and a number of brand new stores have also opened as the departure lounge phase of the £80 million transformation nears its completion.”