London Stansted Airport is benefitting from major routes being announced as the Summer 2023 season ramps up.
This also comes ahead of the Easter half-term break, where many are due to go abroad during this period.
Without further ado, let’s get into it…
New Routes for London Stansted Airport…
On March 26, Ryanair started off proceedings with its new thrice-weekly service to Newquay, with Norwegian carrier Wideroe beginning twice-weekly services to Bergen.
Then, on March 30, Jet2 began services to Athens and Rome.
London Stansted Airport has also noted some other flights that will be beginning over the course of the Summer 2023 season:
- Ryanair
- Belfast
- Edinburgh
- Asturias
- Klagenfurt
- Leipzig
- Emirates
- Second Daily Dubai flight.
Neringa Ohrstrom, the Head of Brand & Marketing for the Airport, said the following on this:
“London Stansted was the fastest recovering major airport in the UK in 2022, serving over 23 million passengers, and with more new routes joining the departure boards, we’re set for a very busy and exciting summer.
“The weekend marked the start of the summer season for the industry, and we were delighted to launch two brand new routes to Newquay and Bergen.
“Rome and Athens flights will begin this week with Jet2, and there are several other new routes coming up, including Belfast, Edinburgh, Asturias, Klagenfurt, and Leipzig flights operated by Ryanair.
“While Stansted is the leading airport in the UK for connections to Europe, it’s also really exciting to be expanding our long-haul network even further with a second daily flight to Dubai in May.”
Nearing Pre-Pandemic Movement Numbers…
Data provided by RadarBox highlights that London Stansted Airport isn’t far away from achieving pre-pandemic movement statistics.
For March 26-April 2, the airport achieved 536 movements, which represents an increase of 3.28% compared to the same period last year and is only 11 movements short of 2019 numbers.
Below is the last four weeks’ worth of data for the airport:
| Date | 2019 Numbers | 2022 Numbers | 2023 Numbers | Percentage Difference (2023 vs. 2022) |
| February 26-March 5 | 479 movements | 429 movements | 457 movements | +6.53% |
| March 5-12 | 485 movements | 440 movements | 472 movements | +7.27% |
| March 12-19 | 482 movements | 433 movements | 457 movements | +5.54% |
| March 19-26 | 483 movements | 429 movements | 474 movements | +10.49% |
What the data highlights are that London Stansted could potentially exceed pre-pandemic numbers as we get further into the Summer 2023 season.
Overall…
It remains clear that the airport is just about to recover from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the Summer 2023 season will help contribute to that.
With it expected to be the busiest period in the history books, this will be something that the airport will want to capitalize on moving forward.
Also, because capacity constraints within London Heathrow continue to emerge, this is also a good opportunity to secure some more market share.
For now, all eyes are on London Stansted Airport to see what is next and how the Summer will go.
