AN airport has set a new record for the number of its passengers.

London Stansted welcomed more than 2.3 million passengers to the airport during June this year, up 7.9 per cent over the same month in 2016.

The figure is a new record for the month of June, surpassing the previous record in 2006.

Stansted Airport CEO, Andrew Cowan, said: "The airport’s cargo operation is also reporting significant growth with the volume and worth of goods, products and mail passing through the dedicated facilities now reaching an all-time annual high – the value of all the cargo and freight moving through Stansted is now over £12bn a year.

"This demonstrates the major benefit a global cargo network provides, connecting not only the fast growing east of England region to the world but also businesses in London and across the UK that trade internationally.”

The biggest year-on-year growth came from Denmark and Cyprus with Ryanair now serving Copenhagen and Jet2.com flying to Larnaca and Paphos.

The volume of cargo passing through the airport continues to rise with more than 22,000 tonnes of goods, products and mail being transported during the month, equivalent to moving more than100 Statues of Liberty.

The annual total now stands at nearly 259,000, up 4.3 per cent over the previous year and an all-time record for the amount of cargo moving through Stansted in a 12 month period.