The Airport Operator | Autumn
06 October 2025
Gareth Powell, Managing Director of London Stansted Airport, has told The Airport Operator that he expects the fast-growing airport to top 30m passengers this year, which he described as “a huge milestone for Stansted”
Meanwhile, Uttlesford District Council is expected to respond shortly to the airport’s planning application to increase its annual passenger cap from the current 43m to 51m over the next 20 years.
Powell stressed that the application is for “permission to make best use of our existing runway. The key thing about that is we haven’t asked for an increase in the maximum number of flights that the airport is already permitted to operate, nor to extend our boundary, but it recognises that over time aircraft are getting slightly bigger and therefore each aircraft can carry more passengers. We can handle up to 51m passengers in the future without any increase in our flight cap or increase in the overall noise footprint of the airport because aircraft are getting more efficient and less noisy over time”...
