Record year for Manchester Airport

Manchester Airport achieved its best year to date in 2017, according to new figures.

The airport has revealed that 27,791,274 passengers passed through its three terminals last year, up 8.5% against 2016.

Cargo volumes, meanwhile, rose 9% with 123,576 tonnes carried.

Highlights for the UK’s third-biggest airport last year included the launch of new routes to destinations such as Granada, Seville, San Francisco, Boston, Muscat and Riyadh, along with expanded flight schedules to the Far East from Asian carriers Cathay Pacific and Hainan Airlines.

An economic report published in November revealed that, in its first year of operation, Hainan’s Manchester-Beijing service delivered a significant boost for the city and the wider North.

In April, a VIP lounge opened in Terminal Three. The space is named 1903, for the year of the first flight carried out by aviation innovators the Wright Brothers.

July saw Chris Grayling MP, the Secretary of State for Transport, visit Manchester Airport to see work start on its 10-year £1 billion transformation programme.

Manchester Airport CEO Andrew Cowan said: “It’s been another strong year for Manchester Airport as passenger numbers continued to grow and we celebrated the launch of a number of key routes.

“The start of the building work for the Transformation programme was another key milestone for the airport.”

He continued: “The project will allow us to unlock the full potential of our two runways and provide our passengers with a great customer experience.

“As we look ahead to 2018, we expect that passenger numbers will continue to grow and we’re looking forward to the launch of a new route to Seattle with Thomas Cook Airlines.”