Manchester Airports Group (MAG) has reported a 2.7 per cent increase in traffic for April despite Manchester seeing a decline due to an early Easter holiday weekend.
Traffic at Manchester fell 2 per cent year-on-year to just over 2.2 million, but the group’s overall numbers were boosted by an 8.1 per cent increase at Stansted in the wake of new routes at the airport.
Stansted saw an additional 177,000 passengers above April last year. MAG says this number was bolstered by new services to New York and Reykjavik, as well as other long-haul destinations such as Washington DC, Boston and Toronto.
Emirates will begin flying from Stansted to Dubai on a daily basis from June, which the airport says could provide another boost to its traffic figures.
East Midlands saw a marginal decrease of 0.6 per cent, but cargo tonnage continued to climb, increasing 7.1 per cent on April 2017.
Ken O’Toole, CEO of Stansted airport, commented: “With limited spare capacity at other airports in the South East, Stansted will deliver 50 per cent of London’s expected passenger growth over the next decade. Given this anticipated growth, we have applied for permission to raise the number of passengers we serve to 43 million a year, with a firm commitment to do so without any additional flights or noise impacts beyond our current permissions.
“We are also investing heavily to ensure the passenger experience is an efficient, comfortable one even as we continue to grow. We have recently opened 12 new check-in desks and are adding additional seating and restaurant facilities in time for the summer break. This investment coupled with our new and existing range of airlines and destinations will bring even more passengers to Stansted in the coming months.”
magairports.com