Manchester Airport soars past the 23m passenger barrier

Manchester Airport has reached the 23m passenger mark for the first time ever.

The UK’s third busiest airport welcomed 23m holidaymakers and business travellers in the last 12 months.

November marks the 19th consecutive month of passenger growth for the airport, which was used by more than 2m people in October alone.

Bosses are now predicting further growth with a number of routes to be added in the coming months, including flights to Boston and Los Angeles with Thomas Cook Airlines and a Hainan Airlines service to Beijing.

Manchester Airport’s managing director, Ken O’Toole, said: “Manchester Airport has never been busier and our continued growth is testament to the role we play in connecting people across the North to destinations in all four corners of the world.

“We have more than 22m people living within two hours of Manchester Airport and our continued addition of new routes and increased frequencies is seeing both business and leisure customers choose Manchester, rather than other airports.”

He continued: “With two full-length runways and a £1bn transformation program announced, Manchester Airport has, and will continue to have, the available capacity and demand to meet the needs of our catchment area and beyond.”

The 23 millionth passenger since November 2014 was 22-year-old Yorkshire resident Lucy Chaplin, who flew with easyJet to Geneva today (November 23).

Lucy said: “I am absolutely delighted to be Manchester Airport’s 23 millionth passenger and what an incredible start to my flight with easyJet.”

easyJet’s commercial manager, Ali Gayward, called Manchester Airport’s passenger growth stats “a fantastic milestone” for the facility.

She said: “We are delighted to be part of the growth story at theairport, working side by side with the airport.

“Next summer, we’ll add two extra aircraft to our Manchester fleet, taking the total number to 11 and also launch three new routes - Paris, Milan Malpensa and Olbia in Sardinia, taking the total number of destinations from Manchester to 44.”

Ali continued: “Having just launched our inaugural flights to Vienna for this winter, we look forward to continuing to work with the airport in looking for future opportunities to open up new routes for our customers in the North West.”

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