Manchester Airports Group annual passenger numbers hit 66m

More than 66 million passengers used Manchester, Stansted and East Midlands airports in the year to March.

 

The annual total for Manchester Airports Group was up by almost 2% over the previous year.

 

The performance was driven by MAG’s core airlines - including Ryanair, easyJet, Jet2.com and Tui - adding new destinations and frequencies to Europe, while the airports group also attracted a number of key long-haul routes for the first time during the period. 

 

MAG now connects passengers to 284 global destinations, with one in five UK air passengers using one of its airports. 

 

Manchester airport handled a record 32.3m passengers during the year, up 3.6%.

 

Stansted handled 30 million passengers for the first time in its history, while East Midlands saw throughput of four million. 

 

A company statement said: “This sets MAG up to deliver a positive summer season, as the aviation industry navigates the impact of the Middle East conflict. 

 

“The variety of its route networks and focus on choice and value mean passenger volumes have continued to grow each month in the new financial year, with the number of seats on sale heading into the summer up on 2025.”

 

MAG achieved revenues of £1.5 billion, up 12.8% year on year, and an operating profit up 15.5% to £303.9 million.

 

During the year, MAG invested £561.7 million, as the largest investor in transport infrastructure outside London. 

 

However, the group cautioned its long-term ability to invest in infrastructure will be undermined if the government does not reach a “predictable, proportionate, fair and objective agreement” with the airports sector on business rates.

 

Rates liabilities are already set to more than double and represent MAG’s largest non-employee cost line, the company noted.

 

Chief executive Ken O’Toole said: “Our long-term ability to continue growth-enabling investments of this nature is influenced by the fiscal environment in which we operate. 

 

“The current government has been hugely supportive of aviation in policy terms, but risks undermining that with a tax regime that creates a barrier to investment-led growth. 

 

“MAG’s business rates have already more than doubled and there remains no clarity on what airports’ future liabilities will look like. 

 

“We have recently responded to a government consultation on business rates, with MAG stating that any change needs to deliver outcomes that are fair, predictable, proportionate and encourage future private sector investment.”