STANSTED Airport's popularity continues to soar, according to latest passenger figures.

More than 1.3m passengers used the west Essex airport in January 2004, an increase of 14.8 per cent over the same month last year.

In the 12 months ending January, Stansted's passenger numbers grew by 15.8 per cent over the previous year with the moving annual total rising to 18.8m.

The busy start to the year was boosted by a record number of travellers enjoying a new year break. Nearly 59,000 passengers made January 2 the busiest day of the month, an increase of 10,000 over the busiest January day last year European scheduled routes recorded the largest increase with nearly 1m travellers using the airport during the month, up 21.8 per cent on January last year.

Domestic traffic grew by 2.1 per cent with nearly 188,000 passengers travelling during the period. Over 135,000 passengers travelled on Ryanair's five Irish routes in January.

BAA Stansted managing director Terry Morgan said: "We've begun the new year as we ended 2003, with record numbers of passengers enjoying the vast range of destinations available from Stansted and benefiting from the very competitive fares that Europe's most dynamic airlines are able to offer.

"Despite the tradition that January is the quietest month of the year, Stansted continued to appeal to an increasing number of British and overseas travellers."