Manchester Airport has busiest ever December

Image courtesy MAG

The month smashed the previous record set in December 2023 by 10% with the busiest day coming on Sunday 29th December, when just under 89,000 people passed through the airport.

During the month 98% of passengers queued for 15 minutes or less to get to security with three quarters of passengers waiting less than five minutes.

It comes as Manchester Airport enters an exciting year during which its £1.3 billion decade-long transformation programme will be completed.

Later on this year the airport’s brand-new Terminal 2 will fully open meaning the majority of passengers will use the state-of-the-art facility.

The first phase of the new terminal opened in 2022. The second phase will double the size of the terminal and includes the addition of more than 25 new shops, bars and restaurants including Chanel, a Lego Store and the airport’s first Wetherspoon’s pub. It will also add a new security hall, additional check in desks and much more – including a spectacular art installation made out of one of the airport’s iconic chandeliers.

Manchester Airport Managing Director Chris Woodroofe (above) said: “December is always an exciting month at the airport. We’re proud to connect the North and our vital role is never more clear-cut than when we’re helping tens of thousands of people to be reunited with their loved ones for the festive period.

“We smashed our December record with 2.2 million passengers coming through the airport. It’s particularly pleasing that the vast majority of those passengers – just over three quarters – waited for five minutes or less to get to security.

“It comes at the end of our busiest year on record with more than 30m passengers flying into or out of Manchester Airport – and it sets us up for a truly epic 2025.

“This year will be the most exciting in the airport’s history as we complete our £1.3 billion transformation programme. I cannot wait to welcome passengers into the second phase of our brand-new Terminal 2. When it opens later this year the majority of our passengers get to benefit from an airport terminal that rivals any across Europe.

“We’ve also got lots of other exciting plans for the year, including news about Terminals 1 and 3 that we’ll be announcing soon, and we look forward to welcoming even more passengers to the UK’s global gateway in the North.”

The most popular destination during December was Amsterdam with more than 110,000 passengers flying to or from the Dutch capital. Amsterdam was followed by Dubai, which is always boosted by large numbers of people who use the Middle Eastern hub to connect to destinations like Australia and others across Asia and Africa.
 
December’s top 10 destinations:

1. Amsterdam – 110,980 passengers
2. Dubai – 108,534 passengers
3. Dublin – 107,076 passengers
4. Tenerife – 77,767 passengers
5. Paris Charles De Gaulle – 76,296 passengers
6. Alicante – 71,989 passengers
7. Hamad International Airport – 62,710 passengers
8. Belfast – 58,488 passengers
9. Arrecife (Lanzarote) – 48,257 passengers
10. Copenhagen – 49,102 passengers

December also saw the launch of the airport’s new TimeSlot initiative. If passengers are travelling from Terminal 3, they can use new TimeSlot passes that let them book a time to go through security based on a specific flight, helping them get to the departure lounge more quickly.