As long delays continue to hit airports right across the UK, Liverpool John Lennon airport reports "good news" as it looks to the future.
There has been much travel chaos reported up and down the country, with missed or cancelled flights, huge security queues and lost luggage, with airports just miles away from Liverpool coming under fire in recent months. But here in the region, things appear to remain unscathed as not only is there a lack of queues, but the airport has one of the "best on-time departure records of any UK airport".
Furthering the good news, around 200 jobs will be on offer following a £2m investment into new passenger facilities as airport bosses gear up for a "busier summer season".
READ MORE: Liverpool weather: Temperatures hit 29C on 'hottest day of the year'
At the Halewood town council monthly meeting on Thursday, councillor Andrew Hesford relayed the good news to fellow members as he said the expected jobs are "great news for the region". He went on to say that in the Easter Holidays alone, around 320,000 passengers travelled through the airport, with predictions expected to rise as we head into summer.
He added 90% of passengers passed through security in around 15-minutes and 93% of flights took off within 15 minutes of departure time, differing from news heard elsewhere across the UK. Airports have been making headlines in recent months due to increasing delays, causing holiday chaos and additional stress for families, some of who have been looking forward to their first holiday abroad in three years.
Airport bosses previously took to social media to advise people to arrive no later than two and a half hours before their flight was due to leave as they said: "While we are aware of ongoing media coverage elsewhere, we want to reassure our passengers that we continue to see 15-20 mins queues through security throughout the day and are, therefore, asking passengers to arrive no more than 2.5 hours prior to their flight departure time."
Liverpool John Lennon Airport previously announced that with additional flights to new destinations starting this year, passenger numbers are expected to be the highest since 2019. Work is also underway to enhance parts of the airport for shopping and dining experiences and improved passenger facilities.
Some of these improvements will include a new Upper Crust store opening, the upgrading of JD Sports and Greggs opening a store for the first time as well as a new unit to include a WHSmith and Marks & Spencer’s Food To Go offer for the first time too. In addition, existing retailers have also re-opened in time for the Easter period and food and drink areas.
The Airport will also be introducing an enhanced parking offer for passengers with a new ‘Meet and Greet’ valet parking facility, enabling passengers to drop off their vehicles close to the terminal hassle free, with airport staff parking their car for them on site at the airport and then returning them ready for collection when passengers return. In total, this £2m investment in these new facilities will also create a further 200 jobs at the airport, which is in addition to over 200 vacancies that a host of employers at the Airport recently filled.
Lucy O’Shaughnessy, LJLA’s Commercial Director previously said: "It’s great to be opening units back up again and adding some fantastic new brands to the mix including Greggs and Upper Crust and we are really looking forward to welcoming back our regular passengers and hopefully many new ones too. These great new additions combined with the return of many of our popular existing shopping and food and drink areas will mean passengers have an even greater choice of quality passenger facilities in time for Easter and the Summer season ahead, here at the region’s faster, easier, friendlier airport."
