Norwegian, which has a base at Gatwick, carried 3.1 million last month – an increase of 386,000 on the same month in 2016 with load factors going up to 90%.

The airline added that it had seen the “strongest” growth on its intercontinental routes.

Over the last 12 months, Norwegian’s overall passenger numbers also rose by 14% year-on-year to a total of 32.3 million with a load factor of 87.8%.

Bjorn Kjos, Norwegian’s chief executive, said: “We’re very pleased to see that more passengers are choosing Norwegian when they travel, not least business travellers.

“The demand is good and stable in Scandinavia, and the growth is highest on our intercontinental routes. Global expansion is important to position ourselves in a market with such strong competition, but also for creating economic value in the markets we operate.”

Norwegian is continuing to expand its long-haul operations from Gatwick with new flights to Singapore, Denver and Seattle launched in September.

It also signed a “feeder flight” deal with easyJet last month allowing customers to combine short and long-haul flights in one booking from Gatwick.