MAG August 2021 Passenger Statistics
- Passenger figures are up 26.8% year-on-year but continue to reflect impact of pandemic
- Passenger numbers for August 2021 are down 68.1% compared to August 2019
- MAG’s rolling 12-month total is down 48.8%
Passengers:
| Manchester | London Stansted | East Midlands | MAG |
Rolling 12-month total to Aug 21 | 3,470,316 | 4,019,885 | 458,039 | 7,948,240 |
12-month total % change year on year | -76.6% | -73.4% | -78.1% | -75.2% |
Rolling 12- month total to Aug 20 | 14,831,610 | 15,103,532 | 2,087,699 | -48.8% |
Aug 21 total | 865,868 | 1,142,805 | 155,862 | 2,164,535 |
Aug 21 % change year on year | +27.8% | +26.7% | +21.7% | +26.8% |
Aug 21 % change on Aug2019 | -74.0% | -60.1% | -74.2% | -68.1% |
Cargo:
| Manchester | London Stansted | East Midlands |
Aug 2021 total tonnes | 4,286 | 23,985 | 34,186 |
Aug 2021 % change year on year | +18.6% | +1.8% | -1.3% |
MAG continues to serve significantly fewer passengers than it did in the year before the coronavirus pandemic. Passenger numbers did increase over the months of August compared to 2020 (+26.8%) as families and friends travelled abroad over the final weeks of the summer break. However, passenger figures were still down 68.1% on August 2019.
Cargo loads at Manchester Airport and London Stansted were up 18.6% and 1.8% respectively on July 2020, but were down 1.3% at East Midlands Airport.
In August, the Government announced two updates to its traffic light system for international travel. On 4th August, it announced an extension to the ‘green list’, where countries including Germany, Austria and Norway were added. It was also announced that France would be taken off the ‘amber-plus’ list, meaning double vaccinated passengers would no longer need to quarantine on their return to the UK. Its second update on the 26th August saw popular holiday destinations including Greece and Spain remain on the amber list, and destinations including Canada, Finland, Denmark and Switzerland added to the green list.
MAG responded to both announcements with statements from CEO Charlie Cornish. After the latest update on the 26th August, MAG said that any changes to the current system would not make a material difference to the overall recovery of the sector, with the summer season now drawing to a close. MAG also called for the Government’s official review of the system on the 1st October to be brought forward, where it should remove the need for PCR testing for fully vaccinated passengers.
To support these statements, MAG spokespeople also appeared on national and regional broadcast channels to reaffirm these messages.
ENDS