Manchester airport exceeded pre-pandemic passenger volumes for the first time last month.
The northwest hub handled 2.6 million passengers in October – 100,000 more than in the same month in 2019 – and the first time the number of monthly travellers through the airport topped pre-Covid levels.
The 13.5% rise was driven by the popularity of travel to Dubai and an increase in the popularity of city breaks to places like Amsterdam, Dublin and Paris following the end of the summer season.
The October data shows that the airport has served more than 27.5 million passengers in the last 12 months.
The airport confirmed that the first passengers will experience new security scanners from this week.
In the future the scanners will mean passengers can bring larger amounts of liquid through security and will not have to remove items such as laptops from their cabin baggage.
Owner Manchester Airports Group (MAG) surpassed pre-pandemic traffic levels in October.
MAG, which also operates Stansted and East Midlands airport, served 5.6 million passengers, equal to 104% of those handled in October 2019.
Stansted became the first major airport to exceed 2019 volumes in July and it recorded another strong month. The Essex airport registered its busiest October on record, with 2.6 million passengers.
Manchester airport managing director Chris Woodroofe said: “We’re proud to connect the north to the world and this data shows just how important international travel is to people in our region.
“I’m really pleased to see passenger numbers recover beyond their pre-pandemic levels. But what’s even more important to me is the fact that we’re delivering a great service to all those who are passing through the airport, with 99.3% of our passengers queuing in security for under 15 minutes.
“That means our passengers can start their holidays at the airport knowing that rather than in queues, they will get to spend their time enjoying the world class facilities in our departure lounges.”
He added: “We’ve achieved a huge amount to get to this point but we’re not stopping here.
“We’ve got big plans for the future including the continued transformation of Terminal 2, which has now entered its second phase and will be complete in 2025, the introduction of a number of new routes for next year including Las Vegas and the announcement of a number of new food, drink and retail offerings in our terminals. We really do have an epic 18 months ahead of us.”
Top ten destinations from Manchester airport in October were:
- Dubai
- Amsterdam
- Tenerife
- Dublin
- Antalya
- Palma de Mallorca
- Alicante
- Dalaman
- Malaga
- 10.Paris Charles de Gaulle