London Stansted Explores Raising Passenger Cap To 51 Million

London Stansted Airport (STN) has unveiled a draft Sustainable Development Plan (SDP), highlighting its potential to grow beyond the current passenger cap of 43 million per year to between 48 and 51 million by the late 2030s.

“The airline industry is dynamic and continually evolving in response to technological advances in aircraft design and changing passenger requirements,” the SDP says. “There is now a clear need for airports such as London Stansted also to evolve to meet the requirements of the airline industry, the overall growth in the demand for air travel and the increasing expectations of our passengers.”

Planning permission to expand STN’s terminal and increase its capacity to 43 million passengers per year was granted on appeal in 2021, based on forecasts prepared in 2018.

The airport now says that "material increases in the size of the aircraft that will replace the existing fleet mix" could allow it to handle up to 51 million passengers annually by the late 2030s, without exceeding the current limit of 274,000 aircraft movements and within the existing airport boundary.

The single-runway airport, which served nearly 30 million passengers in 2023, cites Ryanair’s purchase of 150 Boeing 737-10 aircraft—offering 30 to 40 more seats per flight than current models—and Jet2.com’s plan to add 99 Airbus A321neo jets to its fleet as significant factors driving potential capacity growth.

“Remaining within the approved limit on the number of aircraft movements is consistent with the policy of making the best use of the runway,” the SDP says.

“The environmental effects of this growth will continue to be assessed and closely monitored. We expect this assessment to find no material increase in the environmental effects of the airport’s growth beyond that expected for an airport of 43 million passengers per year.”

The SDP comes as construction on a £600 million ($784 million) extension to the airport’s passenger terminal is expected to begin in 2025 as part of a £1.1 billion upgrade. The extension will add 16,500 m2 (54,100 ft.2) to the terminal and includes building a 14.3-megawatt onsite solar farm.