Manchester Airport Announces Passenger Number Increase

Manchester Airport saw 2.1 million passengers use the airport during June 2013, according to figures released today.

This was a rise of 4.1% when compared to June 2012, and marks a 13th consecutive month of year on year growth for the gateway to the North.

Figures released this month by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) also show that Manchester Airport was above the UK airport average of passenger growth in June. The UK airport average growth was 3.2%.

The statistics showed international scheduled flight traffic to be up by 9.4%. New services such as EgyptAir's service to Cairo launched in June while TAP Portugal announced an increase of weekly flights to Lisbon, taking them from seven a week to ten. The new route to Cairo allowed Egytpair to expand its network with the start of a five times per week service between Manchester and the Egyptian capital. Cairo is the northern gateway to Africa and passengers have convenient onward access to more than 18 African destinations.

An on-going focus on the low cost sector has also gone some way towards Manchester's success as the third stage of the airport's 'Fly Manchester' campaign launched in June, continuing to raise awareness of Manchester Airport as home to the most low cost flights in the North. Airlines such as easyJet, Ryanair, Monarch, Jet2.com, Germanwings and Norwegian continue to grow from Manchester.

The passenger performance continues a recent positive trend and Virgin Atlantic also announced during June that they would be offering 30,000 extra return seats to Orlando from Manchester Airport in summer 2014. Virgin Atlantic will fly daily from Manchester Airport and twice a day on Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday.

Ken O'Toole, Chief Commercial Officer for MAG, owners of Manchester Airport, said: "We've seen over a year of continued month-on-month growth now and the next few months will provide an additional boost as over 14m passengers are expected to use Manchester Airport during the summer. We're entering the full swing of the summer season and are expecting a further surge in passengers once the schools break up as millions of people fly away for a well-deserved break."

The top five foreign destinations for this summer are currently Palma, Amsterdam, Dubai, Alicante and Tenerife with August 23rd anticipated to be the busiest day of the summer this year. Passenger figures show that 84,000 passengers are expected to travel through Manchester Airport on Friday August 23rd. The same day last year peaked at 80,000 passengers travelling through the airport.

Manchester Airport is part of MAG, the UK's second largest airport operator, serving 42 million passengers every year through its ownership and operation of Manchester, London Stansted, East Midlands and Bournemouth airports.

-ENDS-

For more information contact MAG's press office 0161 489 2700 or press.office@manairport.co.uk

Notes to Editors:
• Link to figures: http://www.manchesterairport.co.uk/manweb.nsf/alldocs/B7499432988C8D9E80257BA5003EEED2/$File/June+13.pdf
• Manchester Airport is the global gateway for the North of the UK and the largest airport outside London with over 200 destinations served by 65 airlines.
• Manchester's long-haul catchment area places around 24 million people and 60% of all UK businesses within a two-hour drive time - it extends north through the Lake District into Scotland; east across Yorkshire and the North East; south to Birmingham and the Midlands; and west into Merseyside and Wales.