London Stansted enjoyed a busy July with cargo operations benefitting from the chaos at the Channel Tunnel and the passenger side seeing the busiest July in seven years, as the launch of Thomas Cook’s trio of new long haul flights and the summer holiday season helped contribute to over two million passengers passing through the airport.

Cargo volumes continued to increase with 233,239 tonnes shipped through Stansted in the last year, up 9.4 per cent on the previous 12 months. A total of 20,732 tonnes of freight was transported through in July alone as some carriers added extra flights in order to ease the supply chain problems caused by the backlog at the Channel Tunnel.

In June Stansted saw a major addition to its air freight business with the addition of China Southern Cargo  starting a two flights a week service, rising to three a week later this year, to Stansted from China’s third largest city Guangzhou, using a B777-200 freighter.

In total, 2.19 million passengers travelled through in July 2015, up 12.5 per cent on the same month last year and an increase of more than 240,000 passengers. It was the busiest July since 2008.

“It’s great to see a growing airport and over the last few months we have been growing at double the rate of Heathrow and Gatwick.  It’s a real boost for the airport and it’s a great reflection on the East of England region and its economic vibrancy,” said the airport’s managing director, Andrew Harrison.

During the month of July Stansted welcomed the return of long-haul services as Thomas Cook launched flights to Orlando, Las Vegas and Mexico.