Stansted was the fastest-growing airport in Manchester Airports Group (MAG) in February, coinciding with an application by the group to increase the number of passengers the hub can serve.
Traffic at the airport grew 4.8 per cent year-on-year to 1.7 million in February, while MAG as a whole saw an increase of 2.4 per cent to 3.6 million passengers across its three airports.
Manchester airport grew 1.3 per cent year-on-year, with MAG saying the increase proves the loss of Monarch flights. Other airlines will fill the failed carrier’s slots this summer, prompting the group to expect further growth.
The airport has commenced a ten-year transformation project, with steel works for one of its new piers now complete and the expansion of Terminal 2 under way.
Meanwhile, East Midlands airport saw passenger numbers drop by 6.4 per cent, but MAG says this is partially due to a ‘significant’ number of snow-related flight cancellations. The group remains optimistic for the summer season, with new routes to Bodrum starting in May and Seville later this year.
Despite the drop in passenger traffic, East Midlands’ cargo tonnage grew 9.2 per cent.
Tim Hawkins, corporate affairs director of MAG, said: “The next decade and beyond is going to be about making best use of the runway capacity that this country already has, and MAG operates the two largest airports in the country with significant spare runway capacity.”
magairports.com