Manchester Airport February passenger numbers up 11.1%
Manchester Airport continued its recent spell of double digit growth in February 2017, as the Northern gateway cemented its newly established position in Europe's top 20 airports.
Despite there having been one fewer day in February 2017 compared with February 2016, 165,392 more passengers took advantage of the airport’s connections to long and short haul destinations during the month.
The airport also benefitted from staggered half terms across its large catchment area, from Scotland to the Midlands, meaning that the airport spread its peak period over two weeks rather than one.
Destinations that experienced the most growth in February 2017 included Poland, Goa, Cyprus and Gibraltar.
The airport continues to have ample capacity to grow further on its two full length runways and has recently announced new links to Casablanca with Royal Air Maroc, Riyadh with Saudia Airlines and Frankfurt (Main) with Ryanair.
Manchester’s expanding long haul network has once again boosted its cargo volumes, with 11.2% more cargo being carried at Manchester than in last February and MAG airports (London Stansted, East Midlands and Bournemouth Airports) imported 70% of all roses for Valentine’s Day.
Calling on the Government to improve links across the North, Charlie Cornish, MAG CEO said “Manchester Airport is continuing to show its importance in providing global connectivity to a wider and wider segment of the country. No other airport outside of London can come close to offering the range of global destinations that we offer from our two runways.
“Now is the time for Government to start making concrete plans to improve access to the airport for the whole of the North. Businesses to the east and the west, particularly in key Northern cities such as Liverpool, Leeds, Bradford and Hull, would benefit from more rapid and convenient rail links to a globally connected airport.”