UK airports have seen the strongest start to a year since 2008 – with first quarter passenger numbers now close to levels which were last seen during the prerecession years.

Between January and March 2015, UK terminals handled 50.2m passengers, making this year’s Q1 the busiest since the same period in 2008, just prior to the global financial crisis, which accounted for 51.4m passengers.

The first three months of 2015 also recorded the largest growth in passenger numbers (7.5%) of any quarter in the last ten years. Figures show this increase was primarily the result of growth in European traffic (9%) and domestic traffic (7%).

Commercial flights for Q1 2015 have also increased (471,000) showing the strongest growth (2.9%) of any quarter for nine years, since Q1 2006.