Record breaking summer at Manchester Airport
The year-on-year total was up 5.05% on the 2,558,890 passengers who flew during the same month last year.
Factors including more flights and new destinations on offer, along with the improving economy and mild British weather conditions meant that on average, 86,713 people flew via Manchester every single day during the 31 days of August.
It also set a new all-time high rolling annual total of 22,750,477 for the North’s major international airport, placing it well on-course to break the 23 million barrier by the end of the year.
August saw scheduled international passengers increase by a huge 7.66% on the same period last year, whilst charter travel increased by 1.13% in 2015.
The number of private jets flying in and out of the airport also increased significantly, up 36% on the August last year, boosted by the transfer window signings of the North West’s Premiership football clubs, along with visiting pop stars for music festivals taking place in the North and the Midlands.
Air freight was also up by 6.27% as the annual rolling total amount of cargo carried was over 100,000 tonnes for the first time since 2008, at 100,670 tonnes.
Ken O’Toole, Manchester Airport’s Managing Director, said: “This has been a truly astounding summer and the number of people flying from the north of England has surpassed all forecasts, providing a boost for our airline, tour operators and retail partners, as well as creating jobs and boosting the local economy as a direct result.
“We continue to work hard to ensure services and capacity match the demand that continues to grow across our broad and diverse catchment area.
“I’d also like to thank not only the colleagues who work at the airport to make sure all these planes and people can get where they need to be, but also to the people who chose to fly from Manchester Airport.
“As this, our strongest summer in history, which spans over three-quarters of a century demonstrates, Manchester Airport is vital cog in rebalancing the economy and ensuring the Northern Powerhouse gathers speed and momentum.”
August 2015 in numbers:
•17,667 flights arrived and departed during the 31 days of August – an average of 570 planes using the airport’s two runways every single day
•Terminal 1 handled the most suitcases with 488,095; followed by Terminal 2 with 393,680 and T3 with 179,194
•Extra airport staff recruited ahead of the expected busy summer season also processed a total of 1,060,969 suitcases in the 31 days of August.
The most popular parts of the UK from which people flying from Manchester Airport live are:
1. Greater Manchester
2. Lancashire
3. Merseyside
4. Cheshire
5. Yorkshire
6. Staffordshire
Airport data also indicates that people who live in different places, have different favourite locations.
For Mancunians, the top holiday hotspots are:
1st Alicante
2nd Tenerife
3rd Dublin
4th Mallorca
5th Algarve
For people from Liverpool and the Merseyside area, the top holiday hotspots are:
1st Tenerife
2nd Amsterdam
3rd Mallorca
4th Dalaman (Turkey)
5th Orlando
For Lancashire it is:
1st Tenerife
2nd Mallorca
3rd Málaga
4th Alicante
5th Sharm el-Sheikh
Meanwhile in Cheshire:
1st Dalaman (Turkey)
2nd Algarve
3rd Amsterdam
4th Málaga
5th Tenerife
Yorkshire folk prefer:
1st Málaga
2nd Tenerife
3rd Mallorca
4th Orlando
5th Dubai
And if you live in Staffordshire it is:
1st Lanzarote
2nd Malta
3rd Tenerife
4th Alicante
5th Cyprus
