More passengers heading Stateside, finds Manchester Airport

Statistical analysis for Manchester Airport has shown a rise in the number of passengers travelling to and from the United States, and a concurrent boost to the regional economy in the North.

Direct passengers between Manchester and the US were up 10% year-on-year in 2024, with 931,000 taking advantage of links to cities such as New York, Las Vegas and Orlando. An additional 219,000 bought end-to-end tickets from Manchester to a US airport with a connection via a third airport, with a year-on-year increase in connecting passengers travelling to Boston (up 14%), Chicago (13%), Washington DC (8%) and Los Angeles (6%).

Within Europe, Manchester is the 17^th largest airport for travel to and from the US, with 1.15 million passengers in 2024.

The release of the new data on Stateside travel came as the airport illumintated its Terminal 2 light in red, white and blue to make American Independence Day on 4th July.

Alongside passenger travel, analysis also revealed the volume of cargo travelling between the North and the USA through the airport. £2.4 billion of goods was processed through Manchester to and from the USA in 2024, up by more than a fifth on the previous year – with hopes of further growth following the signing of a US – UK trade deal.

Trade between the UK and the United States is at an all-time high at £294 billion, and North West region is home to offices for a number of American-based multinational corporations including Johnson & Johnson, Amazon, Kellogg’s, Bank of America and Microsoft.

Chris Woodroofe, Managing Director at Manchester Airport, said: 

“As the UK’s global gateway in the North, Manchester Airport is extremely proud to have connected more than a million people across the Atlantic in 2024.

“Ties between the UK and US are strong and enduring, and bring about economic prosperity for people in both countries, including right here in the North. We look forward to working with airline partners and organisations like Marketing Manchester to continue to grow and develop this vital partnership.”