Stansted Airport | |||||||||||
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Summary | |||||||||||
Airport type | Public | ||||||||||
Owner/Operator | Manchester Airports Group | ||||||||||
Serves | |||||||||||
Location | Stansted Mountfitchet, Uttlesford, Essex, England, United Kingdom | ||||||||||
Opened | 7 August 1943 | ||||||||||
Operating base for | |||||||||||
Elevation AMSL | 348 ft / 106 m | ||||||||||
Coordinates | 51°53′06″N 0°14′06″E / 51.88500°N 0.23500°E | ||||||||||
Website | www | ||||||||||
Map | |||||||||||
Runways | |||||||||||
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Statistics (2022) | |||||||||||
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Stansted Airport (IATA: STN, ICAO: EGSS) is an international airport serving London, the capital of England and the United Kingdom. It is located near Stansted Mountfitchet, Uttlesford, Essex, 42 mi (68 km) northeast of Central London.
London Stansted serves over 180 destinations across Europe, Asia and North Africa. Stansted is a base for a number of European low-cost carriers. This includes being the largest base for low-cost airline Ryanair, with over 150 destinations served by the airline. As of 2022[update], it is the fourth-busiest airport in the United Kingdom after Heathrow, Gatwick, and Manchester.[3] During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021, it ranked second in the country.[4] Stansted's runway is also used by private companies such as the Harrods Aviation, Titan Airways, and XJet terminals, which are private ground handlers that can handle private flights, charter flights, and state visits.
Converted to civil use from RAF Stansted Mountfitchet in the late 1940s, Stansted was used by charter airlines. It came under British Airports Authority control in 1966. The privatised BAA sold Stansted in February 2013 to Manchester Airports Group as a result of a March 2009 ruling by the Competition Commission against BAA's monopoly position.[5][6]