Manchester Airport recorded its busiest July ever with 3.2 million passengers.
Image courtesy of MAG
It is the tenth consecutive record month and coincides with passengers flying to over 200 destinations from the UK’s global gateway to the north at the start of the school holidays.
This means that 29.6 million passengers have flown into or out of Manchester Airport in the last 12 months, putting the airport on the verge of joining the elite ’30 million club’ alongside major international hubs such as LaGuardia in New York, Melbourne Airport in Australia, Hamad International Airport in Doha and Sabia Gökçen International Airport in Istanbul.
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Orlando was the most popular American destination with passengers heading to the various theme parks, and nearly 15,000 passengers benefited from the airport’s new services to Las Vegas with Virgin Atlantic and Shanghai with Juneyao Air – both destinations not served by any other English airport outside London.
For passengers in July, it was as if their vacation began at the airport: according to new data, 97% of passengers had to wait less than 15 minutes for security checks and 70% of passengers waited less than five minutes.
The data comes just days after Manchester Airport was given a ‘good’ rating by the Civil Aviation Authority for the services it provides to passengers with reduced mobility.
The most popular destination in July was Palma in Mallorca. 124,000 passengers flew to the popular Spanish tourist destination. Other popular destinations were Dubai, Amsterdam and Alicante, as well as Dalaman and Antalya in Turkey.
Chris Woodroofe (above), Managing Director of Manchester Airport, said: “We are proud to offer people in the north their favourite holiday destinations. Last month was the busiest July we have ever experienced, which is incredibly exciting.
“I am particularly proud that, in addition to this record performance, we were able to continue to offer our passengers good service. 97% of our passengers had to wait less than 15 minutes for security checks – but seven out of ten passengers actually waited less than five minutes.
“What this means in practice is that many people were able to go straight to security without any interruption. If they prepared properly by making sure they were not carrying any liquids over 100ml, putting other liquids in a clear bag and disconnecting their electronic devices, they could be here in the departure hall within minutes of arriving.
“Our continued growth and popularity reflect the hard work we put into our service levels and our continuous efforts to improve the airport experience for our passengers.
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“We will soon join the 30 million club, joining some of the world’s largest airports – and thanks to our £1.3 billion investment in our transformation programme, we will serve our passengers in an environment worthy of that status.
“Next year the program will be complete and I can’t wait to welcome even more passengers and introduce them to the changes.”
The top 10 travel destinations for July were:
- Palma de Majorca – 123,864
- Dubai – 98,715
- Amsterdam – 97,914
- Antalya – 95,087
- Alicante – 91,720
- Dalaman – 90.625
- Dublin – 88,694
- Tenerife – 93,039
- Malaga – 65,906
- Faro – 58,585
Manchester Airport’s £1.3 billion redevelopment programme is in its final stages and is due to be completed next year. The first phase of the programme ended in 2021 with the completion of the brand new extension to Terminal 2, which has now handled over 30 million passengers.
Work is now almost complete on the project to transform the existing part of the terminal to accommodate the new part. When completed, the terminal will double in capacity and will be able to serve 70% of the airport’s passengers. The second phase will include 27 new retail and hospitality outlets, details of which will be announced shortly.
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