In 1980, The British Airports Authority submitted planning application to Uttlesford District Council to develop Stansted Airport. Works started the following year, and the late Queen Elizabeth II opened the then new £400 million terminal, aprons, and taxiways in 1991. It helped grow the capacity from two to eight million passengers a year. In 2007, Stansted recorded its busiest ever summer, at the time, as 2.5million passengers travelled through the airport in August. In 2013, Manchester Airports Group purchased Stansted Airport for £1.5 billion.