Manchester and Stansted airports both reported a bumper Easter getaway as they gear up for the summer peak.
The northwest hub handled almost 2.2 million passengers last month, up 15% on April last year.
Sister airport Stansted saw its monthly toll rise by 16% to more than 2.4 million travellers, including 87,000 on Easter Monday – the busiest day of the year so far.
Parent company Manchester Airport Group (MAG), which also runs East Midlands airport, handled a total of 4.8 million in April – up 16.4% on the same month last year.
Dubai was the top destination from Manchester while Spain, Italy and Germany were most popular from Stansted.
Data from Manchester airport for the first week of May is showing a shift in passenger trends with Alicante rising to the top slot, leapfrogging Dublin and Dubai.
More than 2,000 new members of staff have been taken on since last April, including a new 100-strong resilience team, trained in a variety of roles across the airport so that they can be deployed to help wherever issues occur, including at check-in and with baggage handling.
Manchester airport managing director Chris Woodroofe said: “It was really pleasing to kick April off by delivering a hugely successful Easter, during which more than 300,000 people flew to a wide range of destinations, reflecting the excellent choice we are able to offer as the UK’s global gateway in the north.
“It is great to see passenger volumes continue to grow, and to have been able to provide all those travelling through Manchester Airport with a great level of service.
“That means we are going into the peak summer season ready for passengers to see the airport at its best.
“We want passengers’ holidays to begin at the airport and we’re confident that will be the case this summer – with the vast majority of people breezing through security in under 15 minutes and getting the opportunity to relax and enjoy the world-leading restaurants and shops in our terminals.”
Stansted managing director Gareth Powell said: “I’m delighted we were able to offer our passengers a really smooth airport experience in April, particularly during the very busy Easter holidays. We were able to achieve this thanks for great teamwork, planning and cooperation with all our partner organisations right across the airport.
“April was our busiest month since September last year, and we expect demand to continue to rise as we head towards what could be the airport’s busiest summer ever, so our hard work is on-going to ensure we are fully prepared.
“During the month, our passengers had the choice of 17 more destinations than were available last April. This offer was boosted by a number of exciting new additions to our already extensive European route network, as well as Emirates adding a second daily flight to Dubai to keep pace with the significant demand for long-haul services that exits across our region.