Stansted Airport has celebrated its busiest ever year with more than 25 million passengers passing through the airport.

The airport welcomed 25.9 million people, an increase of 1.57 million passengers, or 6.5 per cent, over the previous 12 months.

The record-breaking performance was achieved with the addition of 11 new routes across the year and the announcement that Emirates will open a direct service to Dubai in June 2018.

During 2017, the top five destination countries reporting the strongest growth by passenger volumes verses 2016 were Spain, France, Denmark, Turkey and Bulgaria.

Stansted Airport CEO, Ken O’Toole, said the aim was to build on the success.

He said: “The last year has been a very busy and exciting time at London Stansted with passenger numbers and the range of destinations directly available from the airport both reaching all time highs.

“In 2018, our aim is to continue growing our passenger numbers and provide even more choice.

"This excellent addition to our route network comes on top of the very exciting news that Primera Air will also launch direct flights to New York, Boston and Toronto from April and May this year.”