Manchester Airport saw passenger numbers rise to around 88per cent of pre-pandemic levels in December as it served more than 1.7million people. This was despite UK Border Force staff walking out across several dates last month.
In total 23,369,770 passengers passed through the airport in 2022, an increase of 283.2per cent on the previous 12 months. The airport experienced a surge in demand for international travel when Covid-19 restrictions were removed in Manchester and the majority of its airlines’ pre-pandemic services returned, while two new services to Bahrain and Kuwait were launched.
The airport worked closely with partners including the UK Border Force to mitigate any disruption during industrial action by PCS Union members in late December. No cancellations to planned flights were made and queues at the border remained consistent with normal operations.
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Chris Woodroofe, Managing Director of Manchester Airport, said: “We have made significant progress in recent months and it was pleasing to see that reflected in our operational statistics for December.
“We are now nearing 90 per cent of pre-pandemic levels of traffic, which bodes well for our continued recovery, and alongside that, we have also seen a steady improvement in passenger experience. The majority of our guests passed through security in under five minutes last month, which is all the more impressive during the busy Christmas period.
"I’d like to thank colleagues for all of their efforts over 2022 to get us to the position that we are now in, and I am sure we will continue to make further progress in the year ahead.”
The airport’s owner, MAG, which also owns and operates London Stansted and East Midlands Airports, served nearly 50 million passengers in 2022, more than three times the number seen in 2021. In December MAG published its interim financial results for 2022-23, serving 30.5 million passengers in the first six months of the year – which represented 84per cent of traffic seen across the same period before the pandemic.
The Group recorded an operating profit of £22.8 million, compared with losses of £75.7 million in the equivalent period last year and increased revenues from £158.7 million to £538.8 million.
MAG CEO Charlie Cornish added: “It was great to see so many passengers back enjoying air travel again over the Christmas period and our traffic figures for 2022 demonstrate the strong recovery we have seen across all of our airports over the past 12 months.
“This reflects our focus on working with our airlines to provide the best possible choice and value to passengers. Combined with our investment in service and customer experience, this sets us up well for a positive 2023.”
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