Stansted: London's expanding airport reduces its Ryanair dependency

London Stansted Airport is adding five new airlines to its list of operators this summer: Primera Air, Emirates, Air Corsica, WOW air and Albawings (in order of seat capacity). The list has increased from 14 airlines in Aug-2016 to 22 in Aug-2018, as the airport attempts to reduce its dependency on Ryanair, the facility's dominant airline. After only entering in 2017, Jet2.com is now Stansted's number three operator after Ryanair and easyJet.

Primera Air will add destinations in North America (Boston, New York Newark, Washington Dulles and Toronto) to Stansted's network and Emirates will add Dubai, but the airport remains short/medium haul dominated (181 out of 189 destinations in Aug-2018).

This summer, Stansted's seat growth rate is faster than at any other London airport and it is also adding more seats in absolute numbers than at any other airport. Stansted has had some success in attracting new airlines in recent years, but Ryanair still accounts for 70% of seats at the airport in Aug-2018.