Post-Christmas getaways have led to an all-time record number of passengers using Manchester Airport in the last month.
The airport accumulated a staggering 1.2million passengers in January alone – a number that was 4.3% higher than the same month last year.
The influx has contributed towards an ever-growing moving annual total for the airport, which now stands at 20.7million passengers.
The growth marks the airport’s 20th consecutive month of year-on-year growth.
Chief Commercial Officer for MAG (Manchester Airports Group) Ken O’Toole said: “January is usually a quieter month following the busy Christmas period however the increase in passenger numbers this January highlights that more people have opted to take a post-Christmas break.
“Popular routes during the month included favourites like Dubai, Alicante and Tenerife as people sought out some sun after poor weather in the UK, as well as the return of the Winter Olympics seeing the rise of ski traffic, with Geneva topping the most popular winter destination list.”
With levels at an all-time high, and the implementation of a variety of new routes imminent, figures are expected to soar even higher.
Mr O’Toole added: “February is anticipated to be a busy month all round as couples jetted off on romantic weekend breaks to celebrate Valentine’s Day the weekend just gone, with Paris and Venice being popular choices, and from this week families take to the skies to get away for the first half term of the year.”
This year will see the airport accommodate a series of new flight destinations, including two long distance routes – Charlotte in North Carolina, USA and Toronto, Canada.
Ryanair will see their company providing customers with 36 different routes when they launch four new routes to Barcelona, Bologna, Fuerteventura and Gran Canaria from Manchester, and more flights will be added to five of their existing routes – Dublin, Ibiza, Lanzarote, Malaga and Tenerife.
Easyjet will introduce a new route to Catania, Sicily this year, and are increasing flights on their Belfast, Geneva and Reykjavik routes.
Jet2.com is bringing a direct flight to Vienna from Manchester Airport, plus new routes to Bergerac, Jersey and Fuerteventura.
Thomson has added Puerto Vallarta in Mexico to their routes.
Thomas Cook has already introduced new routes to the Caribbean, as well as announcing Cape Verde as a year-round service with weekly flights.
Furthermore, Monarch Airlines will provide new routes to Agadir in Morocco, Hurghada in Egypt, Naples in Italy and Enfidha in Tunisia.
Mr O’Toole expects a busy summer for the airport.
“We’re looking forward to a busy summer with many new routes on offer as well as increased frequencies of existing popular routes to meet customer demand,” he said.
“We’re always looking to help our existing airlines grow, as well as welcome new airlines to Manchester Airport which the upcoming new routes on offer demonstrate.”
Picture courtesy of Wildhaber Photography, with thanks.
