Manchester Airport lights up red, white and blue as thousands jet off for Fourth of July celebrations

Terminal Two at Manchester Airport will be lit up in red, white and blue this weekend (30th June 2nd July) as thousands of passengers jet off to the United States ahead of Independence Day on Tuesday 4th July.

More than 100,000 people travel to the US from Manchester Airport every month, with Aer Lingus, Virgin Atlantic, Singapore Airlines and, seasonally, TUI, all offering direct flights across the Atlantic.

The North West of England is home to around 20,000 American-born residents, many of whom are expected to travel across the Atlantic this weekend to join friends and family members for Independence Day festivities. They will be getting a special send-off from Manchester Airport with Terminal Two’s famous honeycomb lights lit up in the red, white and blue of the Stars and Stripes. A ‘Happy Fourth of July’ message will also be displayed on the giant Media Wall screen.

Independence Day is a national holiday in the United States, famed for family barbecues and firework displays, and marks the anniversary of the Declaration of Independence being signed in Philadelphia on July 4, 1776.

Chris Woodroofe, Managing Director of Manchester Airport, said:

“I’d like to wish a very happy Fourth of July to everyone who is travelling out to the US from Manchester to join the Independence Day celebrations.

“As the UK’s global gateway in the North, we are proud to connect over a million passengers to the US every year, and those links are vital for the economic prosperity of our region.

“Earlier this month, Virgin Atlantic announced the return of direct flights to Las Vegas from next summer, which demonstrates the strong post-pandemic recovery in demand for travel to the US. We’re doing all we can to expand our transatlantic route network even further in the years ahead.”

Airlines serve four destinations on the USA’s East Coast from Manchester Airport: New York, Orlando, Houston and Atlanta. Virgin Atlantic is set to resume flights to Las Vegas in 2024, reconnecting the North with a direct link to the American west once again and making Manchester Airport the only airport outside London with a direct service to this region.

Pre-pandemic, Manchester had the third largest transatlantic network of any UK airport, and 12th largest in Europe, directly benefiting the regional and national economy. The US is both Greater Manchester’s largest export destination and largest source of imports, according to the Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce, accounting for a combined £2.5 billion of exports and imports in the city region alone in 2021, and over £86 billion nationally.