A new report out from London Stansted Airport reveals that the airport’s catchment area is responsible for more than half of all UK demand to some of the world’s most popular destinations. According to new data from Skyscanner, over 50 percent of all UK searches for flights to top locations including Beijing, Hong Kong, New York and Tokyo originated from within the London Stansted catchment area.
Launched at World Routes, the report – titled ‘Gateway to Growth’ – outlines destinations that the airport is targeting for long-haul growth in the coming years. Analysis of passenger data shows that a large number of global cities, currently unserved, are already in high demand by passengers across its catchment area. These include:
- Beijing
- Boston
- Delhi
- Hong Kong
- New York
- Mumbai
- Shanghai
- Singapore
- Tokyo
- Washington
The demand is particularly strong for business and first-class travelers within the region who want to access these top long-haul destinations. Well over half (56 percent) of all UK searches for business and first-class flights to these locations originated from within the London Stansted catchment area, according to Skyscanner data. An impressive 61.2 percent of all UK searches for Business and First-class flight tickets to New York originated from the London Stansted catchment area, with Mumbai (59.6 percent) and Tokyo (58.5 percent) following closely behind.
As the only London Airport with significant space capacity, London Stansted is set to deliver up to half of the total expected growth in passengers in London’s airspace over the next decade. The report highlights the large number of passengers from within the London Stansted catchment area who have to fly from other UK airports to access key long-haul destinations. The 2018 Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) survey shows that 1.6 million people from the London Stansted catchment area currently travel to New York each year from other UK airports, while over 400,000 annual travelers from the London Stansted catchment area fly to Hong Kong and more than 370,000 fly to Singapore. This demand ultimately leaks to other UK airports due to a lack of availability.
The number of business travelers residing in the London Stansted catchment, using other UK airports to access key destinations is similarly striking. Close to half a million business travelers (491,215) flying to New York from UK airports are based in the London Stansted catchment area, according to CAA data, while a sizable volume of annual business travel demand for major global destinations including Boston (99,941), Hong Kong (94,559) and Washington (94,556) comes from the London Stansted catchment area and leaks to other UK airports.
Aboudy Nasser, commercial director, London Stansted Airport commented, “People from across the region, and businesses in particular, regularly tell us they want London Stansted to offer a network of long-haul routes that will connect them to their key countries, customers and markets.
“London Stansted sits at the heart of one of the UK’s fastest growing and most successful economic regions, reflecting the competitiveness and ambition of the businesses trading here. We need to demonstrate this strength of demand to airlines who are not currently serving London Stansted.
“Over the next decade, runway capacity in the south-east will be at a premium and London Stansted will be responsible for delivering up to 50 per cent of London’s expected passenger growth and make a greater contribution to improving the UK’s connectivity with the rest of the world. We have ambitious plans to serve 43 million annual passengers by 2030, and it’s imperative we continue to develop our route network by unlocking our spare runway capacity and providing the best service and facilities, so airlines and passengers can easily and conveniently access the world from London Stansted.”
