Manchester airport says it is set for a strong summer season as passenger traffic nears pre-Covid levels and it welcomes hundreds of new recruits.
New systems have been put in place at the airport to ensure queue times are kept below 15 minutes, reported Manchester Airports Group, which operates the northern hub.
It said that in February 96.4% of passengers passed through security in 15 minutes or less.
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Manchester airport hired more than 2,000 new employees in 2022 and hundreds more are being recruited ahead of the summer.
Data shows the airport welcomed 1.7m passengers in February – 93% of the numbers handled in the same month in 2019.
The most popular destination in February was Dubai, with more than 88,000 passengers travelling to the Middle East hub.
Dublin, Amsterdam, Tenerife and Paris made up the rest of the top five.
Manchester airport managing director Chris Woodroofe said: “It’s fantastic to see so many travellers choosing to fly through Manchester airport and passenger numbers returning to normal shows how far we’ve come.
“It’s also interesting to see how the landscape has changed with more people looking to travel long-haul than previously. It confirms Manchester airport’s role as the UK’s global gateway in the north – whether you’re flying to Europe or going further afield.”
Meanwhile, Manchester Airports Group-owned Stansted handled 1.7 million passengers across the month – representing 92% of travellers served in 2019 – while traffic at East Midlands airport was 64% of pre-pandemic levels.