MAG rounds off 2022 with strong passenger performance in December

·       MAG served 3.7 million passengers in December 2022, equivalent to 90% of pre-pandemic levels

·       Total passenger numbers for the 2022 calendar year stood at just under 50 million

·       Continued strong recovery driven by reintroduction of vast majority of airlines’ routes

Manchester Airports Group (MAG) ended 2022 with a continued strong passenger performance, figures published for December show.

MAG, which owns and operates Manchester, London Stansted and East Midlands Airports, served 3.7 million passengers in December – which equated to 90% of passengers seen in the same month in 2019.

London Stansted served 1.8 million passengers across the month - representing 93% of pre-pandemic traffic - as the airport’s pace of recovery continues to stand out. Manchester Airport served 1.7 million passengers in December – equivalent to 88% of passengers served in the same month in 2019.

East Midlands Airport’s traffic for the month was 75% of pre-pandemic levels, as more than 150,000 passengers passed through its terminal.

MAG’s total passenger numbers for the 2022 calendar year stood at nearly 50 million – more than three times the number in 2021. This strong performance across the Group was driven by a strong recovery in demand for international travel as Covid-19 restrictions were removed in March, and the reintroduction of the vast majority of airlines’ pre-pandemic routes – with strong levels of growth across both short and long-haul travel.

MAG CEO Charlie Cornish said: “It was great to see so many passengers back enjoying air travel again over the Christmas period and our traffic figures for 2022 demonstrate the strong recovery we have seen across all of our airports over the past 12 months.

“This reflects our focus on working with our airlines to provide the best possible choice and value to passengers.

“Combined with our investment in service and customer experience, this sets us up well for a positive 2023.”

Operational performance in December remained strong, with 99% of passengers at London Stansted and East Midlands Airports passing through security 15 minutes or less, with the figure for Manchester Airport at 95%.

During industrial action by PCS Union members in late December, Manchester Airport worked closely with partners including UK Border Force to maintain normal service levels for arriving passengers and enable airlines to operate full schedules on strike days..

In December, MAG published its interim financial results for 2022-23, reporting that it had served 30.5 million passengers in the first six months of the year – which  represented 84% of traffic seen across the same period before the pandemic.

The Group recorded an operating profit of £22.8 million, compared with losses of £75.7 million in the equivalent period last year and increased revenues from £158.7 million to £538.8 million.

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