Manchester Airport has reported record passenger traffic for the sixth consecutive month, helped in part by an early Easter period.
The airport welcomed 2,152,799 passengers in March, 12 per cent up on the same month last year, and above the 2,067,960 served in pre-pandemic 2019.
Manchester Airport surpassed pre-pandemic monthly figures for the first time in October, and has pushed through since then, with the latest total bringing its 12-month rolling passenger numbers to 28,780,337, up 13.8 per cent on the previous 12 months.
The most popular destinations last month were Dublin with 95,254 passengers, followed by Amsterdam with 93,838, Dubai with 92,554, Tenerife with 88,330 and Alicante with 65,824.
In other news the airport said that it had now installed a new baggage system serving Terminal 2, as part of its £1.3 billion Transformation Programme.
The system – which has processed more than 100,000 bags since it went live at the end of March – features more than two miles of conveyor belts and can process 3,000 bags per hour.
The airport said that bags will travel up to 582 metres from check-in to the aircraft, with a bag on average taking around ten minutes to pass through the system.
When complete Terminal 2 will be double its current size, and will serve more than 70 per cent of the airport’s passengers from 2025.
The final phase of work includes the construction of a new security hall with 3D scanners, and a second pier with additional boarding gates, as well as the unveiling of a new shopping zone called The Avenue.
Manchester airport outlines plans for shopping and dining experience at revamped T2
Commenting on the news Manchester Airport’s managing director Chris Woodroofe, said:
“We are proud to serve the people of the North. On the surface that means offering an unrivalled range of more than 200 destinations, great service so that passengers never wait more than a few minutes to get to security and world class facilities in our terminals.
“But beneath the surface there is a huge amount of work that goes into making that happen. We’re in the middle of a £1.3bn programme that is completely transforming the airport. A key component of that is this new baggage system that will help make sure things continue to run smoothly behind the scenes.
“So while passengers will see the difference as they pass through Terminal 2 – which has already won the prestigious Prix Versailles award for its architecture and design – equally important changes have been made in the parts of the airport that most people will never see meaning that as demand for travel continues to increase, the service we offer our passengers continues to improve.”
