More than two million passengers have used Manchester Airport, the gateway to the North of England, in June, according to the latest data.
The 2.1 million passenger figure was up by 4.1 percent on June 2012. According to data released this month by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), Manchester Airport was above the UK airport average of 3.2 percent passenger growth for June.
June 2013 was the 13th consecutive month of passenger growth at the gateway, the growth being mostly fuelled by the introduction of new flight launches. New services have been launched, including Egypt Air’s service to Cairo that was launched in June, and TAP Portugal announced an increase of weekly flights to Lisbon, from 7 per week to 10.
Manchester Airports Group chief commercial officer, Ken O’Toole, 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,’ he added.
Presently the top five overseas destinations for this summer are Palma, Amsterdam, Dubai, Alicante and Tenerife. According to the CAA, the busiest day of the summer this year is expected to be August 23, with more than 84,000 passengers expected to travel through the airport on that day.
The positive trend at Manchester is expected to be sustained, helped by Virgin Atlantic’s announcement that it will be offering 30,000 extra return seats to Orlando from Manchester Airport. Starting from summer 2014, the carrier will fly daily from Manchester Airport and twice a day on Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday.
Part of the Manchester Airports Group (MAG), Manchester Airport is the third largest in the UK, with three terminals and two runways, and is set to begin construction on the UK’s first Airport City project this year. The airport celebrated its 75th anniversary on June 25, this year.
