Record numbers of people jetting away for the start of the summer holidays has seen Manchester Airport report its busiest ever July.  
The UK’s third busiest airport saw 2,821,641 passengers travel through the airport last month, an increase of 10% on July 2015. That means the airport’s 12 month rolling total now stands at 24,359,663 passengers.  

July saw the announcement that Singapore Airlines would start direct flights from Manchester to Houston from October as well as removing the current stop in Munich on services to Singapore.  

The new service to Houston is one of several long haul routes set to launch before the end of the year, with Thomson starting flights to Phuket and Mauritius and Thomas Cook Airlines also starting a new service to Tobago.  

This follows the launch of flights to Beijing, LA and Boston earlier this year – making Manchester Airport the only UK airport outside of London to offer these long haul destinations. 

Passenger numbers in July were also boosted by the launch of services by Cobalt to Larnaca and Vueling Airlines to Tenerife South. Norwegian Airlines’ three new routes to Malaga, Alicante and Barcelona have also proved popular with holiday makers since they launched in June. 

Ken O’Toole, CEO of Manchester Airport, said: “It’s been another strong month for Manchester Airport, in which we have seen double-digit growth. The summer holidays are always our busiest time of the year, as families look to get away and we’re on course for a record breaking summer.  

“The news this month that Singapore Airlines will launch direct flights to Houston is another boost for businesses around the region. The continued increase in new long haul flights is testament to the fact people within our catchment area want to fly direct from the North of England instead of being forced to travel via London or other overseas hubs.” 

The airport also saw an 11% increase in aircraft movements during July, with more than 19,000 planes coming and going from the two full length runways. The amount of freight also increased by 14% with 10,118 tonnes handled in July.

Across MAG’s airports performance was strong in July. At London Stansted passenger numbers grew by 6.6% year on year, boosted by the successful introduction of British Airways flights this summer. In particular, the airport saw growth to eastern Mediterranean and Balkan countries, destinations which passengers are turning to for good value breaks. 

East Midlands Airport posted a 6.3% increase in passengers YoY, with once again the Eastern Mediterranean proving more popular than last year. 

At Bournemouth Airport key summer destinations like the Canary Islands, Greece, Portugal and Spain all saw their numbers increase.

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