World leaders help create Stansted record
A last minute surge of world leaders, government officials, VIPs and celebrities arriving for the opening ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games helped set a 24-hour traffic record at Stansted Airport.
The influx of so many private jets and aircraft saw more planes parked overnight at the airport than ever before. In total 165 planes were positioned around the north-side and south-side areas of the airport, compared to 156 for the Champions League Final at Wembley in May 2011.Trevor Waldock, Stansted’s head of airside operations, said: “We had an extremely busy day with scores of private jets flying in world leaders and the rich and famous attending the opening ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games.
“Delegations from Germany, Italy, the US, Albania, Qatar, Armenia, Slovakia, Gabon, Ivory Coast, Serbia, Kazakhstan and Russia were all looked after by the airport’s private aviation specialists.”
Aircraft seen at Stansted included a Saudi Arabian Boeing 777, Slovakian Government Tupolev 154, Czech Air Force Airbus 319, German Air Force Airbus 319, Dubai Royal Flight Boeing 747, Russian Ilyushin IL96 and IL62.
• PHOTOGRAPH SHOWS: Some of the 165 aircraft parked at Stansted ahead of the Opening Ceremony of the London 2012 Summer Olympic Games.
