Summer success for UK’s largest airports group
· More than 800,000 passengers will travel from a MAG airport this weekend.
· 22m passengers have travelled so far, this summer.
· Service levels remain high across airport operations including security and assisted travel offering.
The UK’s largest airports group is preparing for its busiest weekend of the year, with holidaymakers from across the length and breadth of the country jetting off for a final break, or returning home to the UK, before the end of the school holidays.
Manchester Airports Group (MAG), which owns and operates Manchester, London Stansted and East Midlands Airports, will see more than 800,000 people fly through its airports this weekend, showing travellers have truly shrugged off the impacts of the pandemic travel restrictions over the past 12 months.
The August bank holiday follows a successful summer season for all of MAG’s airports. In the first three months of the summer season, more than 22m people flew through Manchester, London Stansted and East Midlands Airports.
In a survey of more than 2,000 passengers in July and August, 94% rated their overall airport experience as good, very good or excellent.
These strong levels of satisfaction have been driven by MAG’s recruitment of more than 3,000 new colleagues over the past 12 months, which has led to 98% of passengers passing through security in under 15 minutes in July. All three airports across the Group also received the highest possible ‘very good’ rating from the CAA for the service they provide to those with assisted travel needs.
Manchester Airport will today see one of its busiest days of the year, with 103,000 passengers set to travel through the North’s global gateway. Over the course of the bank holiday weekend the airport expects to serve around 395,000 passengers. London Stansted is set to see 389,000 passengers pass through its terminal, with East Midlands Airport expected to serve near to 70,000 travellers to destinations across Europe.
Passenger numbers across MAG stood at 97% of pre-pandemic levels in July, when London Stansted became the first major UK airport to surpass pre-covid traffic numbers, with 102% of passengers seen in July 2019 flying through the terminal.
This weekend, travellers will be making the most of MAG’s extensive route networks, which give them direct access to the places they want to visit.
London Stansted serves more European routes than any other UK airport, and this year has seen Turkey become its fastest growing market. This weekend, 51 flights will operate to and from Istanbul and Antalya, which feature as two of the airport’s top five bank holiday destinations, alongside other European favourites including Faro, Dublin and Palma.
At Manchester Airport, around 6,000 passengers will travel on the ever-popular triple-daily service to Dubai this weekend, with others traveling to popular European destinations including Dalaman and Tenerife. New York and Orlando have also proved popular this summer.
East Midlands’ network will see travellers jet off to summer favourites including Malaga and Alicante.
MAG Deputy CEO, Ken O’Toole, said: “This summer’s performance demonstrates our commitment to offering travellers a great experience at our three airports at their busiest time of the year.
“We have welcomed 22m people so far this summer and have been pleased that our work to bring in more colleagues and improve our customer experience has allowed passengers to focus on starting their holidays as soon as they get to the airport. That has reflected in the really positive feedback we have had from people who have travelled through our airports in July and August, more than 90% of whom said they had a good, very good or excellent experience.
“This weekend our airports will serve among their highest number of passengers so far this year, as people choose them for the range and frequency of destinations we offer, allowing them to travel on well-earned breaks at their convenience.
“I am proud of the high levels of service which we have offered to passengers on a consistent basis this summer. This is testament to the hard work of our colleagues across the Group, and I am confident in our commitment to continue delivering at this level.”