26 Sep Rising demand for long haul travel in London Stansted’s catchment strengthens case for airline growth in the South East
New research from London Stansted Airport and popular travel fare website Skyscanner has revealed 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% 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.
The report was presented to the aviation industry by a team from London Stansted at the leading World Routes conference in Adelaide, Australia. Entitled ‘Gateway to Growth’, it 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 by Stansted, 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 travellers within the region who want to access these top long-haul destinations. Well over half (56%) 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% 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%) and Tokyo (58.5%) following closely behind.
As the only London airport with significant available runway capacity, London Stansted is set to deliver up to half of the total expected growth in passengers in the London aviation system 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 travellers from the London Stansted catchment area fly to Hong Kong and more than 370,000 fly to Singapore.
Until Stansted begins to service these popular destinations, passengers in the region are having to spend time and money on travelling to airports further away, while the region itself does not enjoy the significant economic and social benefits which come from strong long-haul connections.
The number of business travellers residing in the London Stansted catchment, using other UK airports to access key destinations is similarly striking. Close to half a million business travellers (491,215) flying to New York from UK airports are based in the London Stansted catchment area, according to CAA data, while a sizeable 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.
