A record-breaking total of 2,087,149 people travelled through Manchester Airport last month, making it the busiest October in the airport’s 77 year history.
The year-on-year total was up 4% on the same month last year, which moved the rolling annual total of passengers for the UK’s Global Gateway for the North to a new all-time high of 22,955,790 – and the airport now expects to surpass the 23 million mark before the year is out.
October saw scheduled international passengers increase by a huge 7% on the same period last year – one of the main reasons for this is the influx of football related fliers, with Manchester United having secured Champions League qualification alongside bitter rivals City, having missed out in 2014.
Football related flights also contributed to the increase in charter flights, including trips to Bournemouth and fans flying in from Dublin.
Other factors for the increases included more flights and new destinations on offer, including new services to Vienna, Miami, Hong Kong and Barcelona – with many people taking the school half term holidays as an opportunity to grab some sunshine abroad.
Ken O’Toole, Manchester Airport’s Managing Director, said: “October has been another very positive month with strong growth nudging us toward the 23 million passenger mark.
“We are seeing more and more passengers ‘Fly Manchester’, which is evident after our most successful year on record. With our 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 that extends as far North as Scotland and South to the Midlands.”
An average of 67,327 people flew via Manchester every single day during the 31 days of October – including The Chinese President, Xi Jinping, who visited as part of his state visit to the UK. Whilst at Manchester Airport The President announced new direct flights to Beijing with Hainan Airlines, which start in June 2016. The service makes Manchester the only airport outside of London to offer a direct scheduled service to Mainland China.
Air freight was also up by 14% on October last year, as the annual rolling total amount of cargo carried reached 102,339 tonnes. This strong growth mainly came from belly-hold cargo with a mix of carriers having solid performances last month. It is also made up by Lufthansa Cargo, due to the commencement of a new weekly cargo flight to Los Angeles from Manchester using a Boeing 777-200 Freighter aircraft.
