Manchester Airport has reflected on its busiest summer season and reviewed its performance in the six months from April to October 2019, during which a record-breaking 19.93 million passengers flew from the Northern hub.
More than 100,000 people a day passed through each day in August. Friday 23rd August saw 115,212 people pass through the airport, the busiest single day in the airport’s history.
The airport’s two runways saw 132,993 flights in the period April-October, an average of 624 each day.
As well as passenger numbers, Manchester Airport has also reviewed the performance of various elements of its operations.
Security
Manchester Airport has hit its target for queue times in airport security for the last 12 months. The airport has made a commitment that 92% of passengers will reach the security lanes in under 15 minutes.
Across the airport’s three terminals, almost 50% of passengers had less than a minute to wait at security. Each month, the airport hit its target for travellers waiting for under 15 minutes – in May, just 0.5% of passengers had a queue longer than 15 minutes.
Baggage
Baggage handling is contracted out to agents by each airline, however 90% of bags were delivered on time in the financial year to date, a 6% increase on 2018-19 figures. The airport has employed a new dedicated team on hand to help in the event of any problems or delays.
On time performance
While aircraft performance can be affected by a variety of issues, including air traffic strikes, slot delays, weather events and technical issues, departure times at the airport improved 2% compared to last year, to 71% of flights taking off within 15 minutes of their scheduled times. On-time arrivals to Manchester Airport improved by 4% to 73%, according to the performance review.
Other airport news
The review of Manchester Airports performance figures come on the back of the airport’s £1 billion transformation programme. In April, the first passenger pier and new car park opened, with the Terminal 2 extension to open next year.
This summer the airport welcomed back El Al who now operate direct flights to Tel Aviv, whilst Virgin Atlantic launched services to Los Angeles. There was also growth from the likes of Ryanair, easyJet, Jet2.com and TUI.
Looking ahead, Biman Bangladesh Airlines has announced it will launch services to Sylhet and Dhaka from January whilst airBaltic will be launching flights to Riga from March 2020. The Chinese carrier, Juneyao Airlines, has also announced that it will commence flights to Shanghai in March.
Brad Miller, Chief Operating Officer at Manchester Airport, said:
It’s been a busy, successful summer for the airport as we’ve continued to grow. I’m particularly pleased that all our preparation for summer has meant our passengers have had a better experience than last year and the operation has coped well with the increased demand.
We also saw the first phase of our £1bn transformation programme open at the start of summer and more will come online in 2020. As we continue to grow the region benefits from the extra connectivity and trade opportunities that arise, inbound tourism and the 10 Greater Manchester councils also see additional dividends.”
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