Traffic falls again at Stansted as Manchester enjoys double-digit growth
Manchester Airport continued to enjoy double-digit growth last month, but passenger numbers at both East Midlands and Stansted were down in March.
The airports’ owner MAG said 1.9 million passengers travelled through Manchester Airport last month, a 10% rise on the same month last year.
It said Manchester has grown by 2.7 million passengers over the past 12 months, which is an 11.4% rise.
It is now the second fastest growing large airport in Europe, according to MAG, behind Moscow Sheremetyevo.
Four of the five destinations with the most passenger growth from Manchester are Spanish, while Amsterdam is the fourth.
"The growth across the board at Manchester, and to Spain in particular, can be attributed to more seats on more planes being made available to passengers wanting to fly to popular destinations year-round, with passengers choosing Spain for summer and winter sun as a great alternative to destinations such as Turkey and Egypt, which have become less popular this year," said the airport.
Long haul growth has been driven by new routes, including a direct service to Beijing with Hainan Airlines, and a new route to Houston with Singapore Airlines.
Meanwhile, increased capacity to Islamabad has contributed to a surge in traffic to Pakistan.
At East Midlands, traffic was down by 1.4% while Stansted saw a 0.8% fall in passenger numbers last month following a 2% drop in February, but it said inaugural flights by Jet2.com will boost capacity from next month.
Bournemouth Airport, the fourth airport owned by MAG, carried 41,930 passengers last month, up almost 13% on March 2016.
Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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