Onwards and upwards for Manchester Airport

Manchester Airport is continuing to hit new heights and has today welcomed its 23 millionth passenger in the last 12 months.
The airport says it is confident on future growth prospects as more  routes are due to be launched in the coming months to new destinations including Los Angeles, Boston and in June next year to Beijing.
Manchester, the largest airport in the country after the capacity-constrained Heathrow and Gatwick, currently flies to more than 210 worldwide locations, ranging from Dublin to Singapore.
The top 10 most popular destinations over the last 12 months were: Dubai, Dublin, Amsterdam, Tenerife, Palma,  Alicante, Malaga, Paris, Orlando and Faro.
The latest increase was Manchester’s 19 month of growth. Since 2010/11 it has attracted six million more passengers.
Ken O’Toole, managing director of Manchester Airport, said: “We are really pleased to have hit this significant milestone. Manchester Airport has never been busier and our continued growth is testament to the role we play in connecting people across the North to destinations in all four corners of the world.”
He said the growth was all the more pleasing given the airport’s high customer satisfaction scores: “Customer satisfaction has reached record levels too. I think our 2,500 staff can he proud of what they do and how they help contribute to the wider region.”
Asked about Manchester’s growing international prominence after the recent visit of China’s president Xi Jinping, O’Toole said: “I don’t think it should be a surprise that Manchester is attracting new airlines and new routes. We have more than 22 million people living within two hours of Manchester Airport – that’s more people than live in countries such as Denmark and Sweden.
“Travel demand drives air trafffic, and we are seeing more people chose to fly from Manchester over Heathrow.
“With two full-length runways and a £1bn transformation program announced, Manchester Airport has, and will continue to have, the available capacity and demand to meet the needs of our catchment area and beyond.”