Record December for London Stansted and Manchester Airport
Both London Stansted and Manchester Airports experienced their busiest Decembers on record at the end of 2023, new figures have confirmed.
The transport hubs, which are owned by Manchester Airports Group (MAG) alongside East Midlands Airport, welcomed two million passengers each last month.
London Stansted experienced a 12.1 per cent rise on 2019’s total while there was a 16.9 per cent jump for Manchester Airport.
East Midlands Airport served more than 190,000 passengers across December, a figure which represented 93% of pre-pandemic traffic.
The group also confirmed that it handled 60 million passengers during 2023 across its three airports – a figure that matches its pre-pandemic total.
London Stansted’s calendar year total of almost 28 million passengers was its third busiest on record.
MAG CEO Ken O’Toole said: “I am pleased to see how well our airports performed in what is one our busiest months of the year – ensuring families could be reunited and people could enjoy their well-earned breaks over the festive period – while continuously offering high levels of customer service.
“This strength of performance over the entire calendar year is a demonstration of the choice, ease, and convenience our airports offer to millions of people across the UK and around the world.
“I am proud to see MAG once again serving 60 million passengers annually following a strong recovery from the most difficult period in our industry’s history.
“The £120m investment in East Midlands Airport, alongside the £440m final phase of investment in Manchester’s Terminal 2 and plans to extend London Stansted’s terminal reinforces MAG’s commitment to improving the passenger experience and investing in a sustainable future for our sector, and the regions we serve.”
Manchester Airport is currently delivering a major £1.3bn transformation programme , the final £440m phase of which began in January and is due for completion in 2025.
It is also consulting on plans to expand its terminal building at London Stansted to accommodate projected growth in passenger numbers over the coming years.