UK. Manchester Airports Group (MAG) has reported a surging traffic performance for July, with passenger numbers across its four UK airports up +8.1% year-on-year.
Manchester Airport was the stand-out performer with +10% year-on-year growth, as more than 2.8 million passengers travelled in July.
Long-haul traffic was a key contributor, with big increases to Pakistan (+70%) and Qatar (+30%), while traffic to the USA also rose sharply compared to last year (+11%).
Holiday destinations such as the Canary Islands (+31%), Spain (+28%) and France (+33%) performed well, helped by new services from Vueling Airlines to Tenerife South and Norwegian Airlines’ three new routes to Malaga, Alicante and Barcelona. Traffic to these destinations has also been boosted by passengers moving away from perceived risky destinations such as Turkey, Egypt and North Africa, MAG stated.
London Stansted Airport passenger numbers grew by +6.6% year-on-year, driven by increased capacity to European destinations and boosted by the introduction of British Airways flights this summer.
The airports company noted particular growth to eastern Mediterranean and Balkan countries: Croatia (+18%), Cyprus (+28%) and Slovenia (+30%). Bulgaria saw three times as many seats offered to passengers than in the same month last year.
East Midlands Airport posted a +6.3% increase in passengers year-on-year, with the Eastern Mediterranean proving more popular than last year: Bulgaria (+26%), Croatia (+64%), and Greece (+25%). Long-haul routes to the USA (+45%) and Mexico (+54%) delivered record numbers, MAG noted.
Bournemouth Airport saw a small drop in passenger figures year-on-year, but increases were reported in key summer destinations like the Canary Islands, Greece, Portugal and Spain.
