Manchester Airport records October passenger growth despite Monarch collapse

Manchester Airport has revealed the five most popular holiday destinations for October after recording an uptick in year-on-year passenger growth.

Last month saw 2,404,521 holidaymakers fly through Manchester Airport, up 3.1% in comparison to October 2016.

The figure follows on from the Northern hub’s busiest summer to date and brings its rolling annual total to 27.7m passengers, which represents growth of 10.5%.

The airport said Amsterdam was the most popular destination in October, followed by Dubai, Dublin, Tenerife and Palma.

In recent weeks, two new routes launched at Manchester Airport: Air Arabia Maroc’s service to Agadir in Morocco and Flybe’s Southend route.

Manchester Airport CEO Andrew Cowan said: “It is pleasing to see Manchester Airport continue to fulfil its role of the UK’s global gateway in the North.

“Last month’s increased passenger figures highlight how people want to fly from their local airport.”

He added: “Now the summer peak is over we are continuing to invest in the airport and passengers will start to see our £1bn transformation take shape and develop over the coming winter months.”

While the airport recorded an increase in passenger numbers in October, the 3.1% growth recorded was lower than in previous months due to the collapse of British carrier Monarch, which accounted for 5.4% of the airport’s flights in September.

Elsewhere, cargo tonnage was up 4% at 11,356 tones carried.

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