Manchester Airport achieves record-breaking October

2.9 million passengers flew into or out of Manchester Airport during October, its busiest ever October on record beating October 2025’s figures by 2.1%.

The busiest period of the month was half-term. More than 1 million passengers travelled during the school holidays to seek out the last of the warm weather across some of Europe’s holiday hotspots: Alicante, Tenerife, Mallorca and Antalya were among the month’s most popular destinations for holidaymakers.

Other popular destinations from Manchester Airport during October included Dubai and Saudi Arabia, key hubs for connecting flights, which indicate an increase in long-haul trips seeking out winter sun.

Manchester Airport Managing Director Chris Woodroofe said:

“The October half-term always means it’s a busy month for us – it’s the last chance to grab some late summer sun in Europe’s classic holiday destinations.

“One of the great things about being the North’s biggest airport is that our route network means we offer choice, flexibility and value to passengers looking to get away at any point in the year.

“We’re now seeing an increase in the popularity of some of our longer-haul and connecting routes like those to Middle Eastern destinations including Qatar and Dubai which are not only popular destinations in their own right, but key connecting hubs for flights to places like Japan and Australia.

“Next month will see the resumption of flights to Bangkok – which will be going up to four-times-a-week this year and I know have been incredibly popular with our passengers since they launched last year.

“We’re also gearing up for the beginning of our festive services to Lapland and other Christmassy destinations in Europe, New York and more so it’s going to continue to be busy and exciting as we keep connecting the North to the world.” 

During October, nine out of 10 passengers waited for ten minutes or less to get to security and the vast majority – over 70% – waited for five minutes or less.