Manchester Airport had its busiest January on record as 1.8m passengers passed through the Northern hub last month.
It is the second consecutive record-breaking month for the airport, which also had its busiest December yet.
Dubai was the most popular destination for travellers in January, with winter sun seekers heading there either to enjoy its attractions or to connect to other far-flung destinations.
February is set to be a busier month at the airport with half term for many schools starting this week. Almost 700,000 passengers are expected between Friday, February 9 and Sunday, February 18, with the most popular destinations set to include Tenerife and Alicante.
Those passengers can feel confident of a good experience in the airport with data showing that during January 99.9% of passengers queued for less than 15 minutes to get to security – and nine out of 10 passengers waited for less than five minutes.
Chris Woodroofe, Manchester Airport Managing Director said:
January can be a great time to travel – whether you’re looking to get a bit of sun or heading for the slopes for some winter sports, you can take advantage of things being a bit quieter and get some good offers – and we’ve certainly seen that here at Manchester Airport.
Our network of around 200 routes means we connect the people of the North to more destinations than any airport outside London and in practice that means that people here have real choice when it comes to their trips. So whether you’re travelling from Bolton to Bodrum or Bradford to Beijing, we have you covered all year round.
It’s half term for lots of families this week so we’re seeing one of our first really busy weeks of the year – but with 99.9% of our January passengers queuing for less than 15 minutes to get to security, we’re confident that all those jetting off this week will be able to start their holidays here at the airport.
We’re preparing for a really exciting year at Manchester Airport – we have a range of new routes launching – including Las Vegas from June and others still to be announced. We’re also continuing work on our award winning Terminal 2 as we reach the final stages of our £1.3bn transformation programme.”
