Stansted Airport has broken another record after seeing its busiest-ever September, with more than 2.45m passengers passing through its terminal last month.

The total surpasses the previous record set 10 years ago in September 2007 and also contributed to a record aircraft load factor for the month, with an average 89% of available seats being occupied on each flight.

An additional 275,000 passengers used the airport last month compared with September 2016, an increase of 12.6%, with particularly strong growth on routes to Turkey, Bulgaria, France and Croatia amid increasing demand for holidays outside of the peak summer months.

The total number of passengers passing through the airport in the year to the end of September 2017 climbed to more than 25.6m passengers, an increase of 6.9% compared with the previous 12 month period.

Cargo volumes during the month were up 2.5% on a year earlier with more than 22,000 tonnes of goods passing through the airport in September. The rolling annual total increased by 3.8% to 260,000 tonnes.

Ken O’Toole, chief executive at Stansted, said: “Demand during September hit an all-time high for the month as more and more people took to the skies to take advantage of the extensive and ever increasing range of destinations available from Stansted.

“The strong growth was also reflected in record load factors with each aircraft carrying more passengers than ever before at this time of the year, ensuring available capacity is effectively and efficiently utilised by our airline partners.

“As previously highlighted, we are now pressing ahead with ambitious plans to transform Stansted with a significant investment programme that will allow us keep pace with demand by providing more terminal and airfield capacity while also enhancing our services and facilities to deliver a great airport experience for each and every one of our valued passengers as we continue to grow.”