London Stansted Airport saw passenger traffic rise in May, as new transatlantic routes contributed to 9.2 per cent year-on-year growth.

May saw the first full month of operation from Stansted to New York, Toronto and Boston on Primera Air’s new A321neo aircraft, as well as Wow Air’s new link to Reykjavik.

The airport expects June to be even busier, following the start of Emirates’ daily Boeing 777-300ER service to Dubai, which saw its inaugural flight earlier this month.

This is the first time that Stansted has had a direct link to a Middle Eastern hub airport and will open up over 100 new route options for passengers in the East of England wishing to travel to the Middle East, Asia and Australasia.

Manchester Airport’s traffic was slight down year on year (-0.7 per cent).

Growth is expected to return to Manchester during the busy summer season, as other airlines fill slots vacated by Monarch Airlines, which ceased trading in October 2017.

The airport announced two new major long-haul routes in May, with Addis Ababa (Ethiopian Airlines) and Mumbai (Jet Airways) being another two additions to Manchester’s significant long-haul portfolio, by far the biggest in the UK outside of London.

East Midlands Airport grew 2.6 per cent year on year to handle 517,000 passengers in May as new summer links to Seville and Egypt proved popular.

Together, the figures mean the UK’s largest airport group grew 3.9 per cent in May, to serve 5.5 million passengers, its busiest May ever and gearing it up for its busiest summer season ever, both in long haul and short haul.

Ken O’Toole, chief executive, London Stansted Airport, said: “London Stansted continues to go from strength to strength, and our busiest ever May and the exciting arrival of one of the world’s truly global airlines in Emirates, is further evidence of our ambition to attract more airlines and play a key role in delivering the expected growth in the London market over the next decade.”