Editing London Stansted Airport (section)

===Development===
In 1988, over 1.1&nbsp;million passengers passed through Stansted, the first time annual passenger numbers had exceeded 1 million at the airport.<ref name="Oldstats">{{cite web |url=http://www.caa.co.uk/default.aspx?catid=80&pagetype=88&sglid=22 |title=1983 – 1997 Airport Statistics – Aviation Intelligence |publisher=United Kingdom Civil Aviation Authority |access-date=28 January 2013 |archive-date=3 June 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120603004320/http://www.caa.co.uk/default.aspx?catid=80&pagetype=88&sglid=22 |url-status=live}}</ref> Consistent year-on-year growth followed, and by 1997, the total had reached over 5 million, rapidly rising to almost 12&nbsp;million in 2000.<ref name="stats"/>

In 2007, passenger numbers peaked at nearly 24&nbsp;million, but then declined for five years, and in 2012, the total was around 17.5 million. An increase of 2.2% was recorded in 2013 to 17.8 million passengers, then 11.7% in 2014 to 19.9 million, followed by 12.8% in 2015 to 22.5&nbsp;million, and 8.0% in 2016 to a record total of 24.3&nbsp;million, making Stansted the [[List of busiest airports in the United Kingdom|fourth-busiest airport]] in the United Kingdom.<ref name="stats"/> Stansted also is a major freight airport, the third-busiest in the UK during 2016, behind London Heathrow and East Midlands Airport, handling in excess of 223,203 tonnes per annum, although freight throughput has declined slightly from its 2005 peak level.<ref name="stats"/>

Passenger numbers for the year ending September 2016 increased by 8.4% to over 24&nbsp;million for the first time since 2007.<ref>{{cite journal|title=London Stansted Airport|journal=Airliner World|issue=December 2016|page=9}}</ref> Passenger numbers for 2023 was 28 million.<ref>[https://www.aero.uk/news-46668/Stansted-shy-of-28-million-passengers-in-2023.html#:~:text=The%20total%20number%20of%20passengers%20that%20passed%20through,the%20third%20busiest%20year%20ever%20for%20London%20Stansted. aero.uk]</ref>