London Luton Airport (LLA) enjoyed its busiest year on record in 2018, with 16.6 million passengers using the airport.

Passenger figures in 2018 marked a 5% increase compared with the previous year and in December alone, the airport welcomed over 1.26 million passengers, a 19.7% increase on the same month in 2017.

The airport’s top three destinations in 2018 were Amsterdam, Bucharest and Budapest, while the airport’s busiest day last year was 10 August.

With passenger traffic rising steadily, capacity at LLA is set to increase further with the airport’s £160 million redevelopment project expected to increase capacity by 50% to 18 million by 2020. Passengers travelling through the airport in the coming 12 months will benefit from Luton’s newly-upgraded terminal, which was opened by UK transport secretary, Chris Grayling, in December. It features 48 new shops and restaurants, including the first-ever airport outlet for the independent British lifestyle store, Oliver Bonas.

A new boarding pier, 3,000 more seats and upgraded transport links are also part of the transformation project.

Describing 2018 as a “landmark year for LLA”, Alberto Martin, the airport’s CEO added: “We welcomed more passengers than ever before, celebrated our 80th anniversary, and opened our newly-upgraded terminal.

“As we enter the New Year, we will hard to ensure that the benefits of our transformation are felt by our passengers, staff and the local community in the years ahead.”

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