Growth in long-haul passenger numbers helped boost October traffic at Gatwick with numbers up by 7.8% to more than 3.3 million.
The increase of 241,000 passengers resulted in the airport’s busiest October and its 20th successive month of growth.
Gatwick used the figures to underline its case for a second runway as the Airports Commission over rival Heathrow.
The commission is expected to publish its initial appraisal of Heathrow and Gatwick’s expansion plans this week, with weekend reports suggesting it favours the west London hub.
Heathrow plans to either build a third runway or extend its north runway and divide it in two, while Gatwick wants to build a second runway.
However, a source close to the commission expect Gatwick and other opponents of airport expansion in general to launch a judicial review, potentially delaying the project, the Express reported.
Gatwick chief financial officer Nick Dunn said: “Another record-breaking month for Gatwick further underlines the benefits of competition in the London market.
“We are continuing to see growth across a wide range of travel and airline models, from low cost carriers and European business travel, to long haul providers and emerging markets.
“With the airports expansion debate entering a crucial phase, these figures are a timely reminder that only an expanded Gatwick would support growth across the broadest range of airline models.
“With more flights to more markets, greater competition and lower fares, Gatwick is the obvious solution if we want all passengers and all types of travel to benefit from expansion.”
Long haul was Gatwick’s highest growth sector last month with new routes to New York and Los Angeles helping boost North Atlantic traffic by 17.5%.
Other long haul travel was up 11.3% with Dubai among the top performers, seeing an 8.2% growth.
Routes to emerging markets also increased with Vietnam up 12.3% and Garuda Indonesia’s new Jakarta services continuing to grow. New easyJet routes to Israel further added to the growth.
A record 21.7% of Gatwick passengers flew on business in October as European scheduled traffic rose by 9.9% or 179,000 passengers, according to today’s figures.
With one in five Gatwick passengers now travelling for business, new easyJet services to Paris, Strasbourg and Brussels all seeing strong growth.