Manchester Airport has announced it has hit 25th months of consecutive growth with monthly passenger numbers close to the two million mark.
In April 2016 1,920,084 people passed through the UK’s third busiest airport.
That marks an 11% year-on-year increase on April 2015 and sees the rolling annual total of passenger numbers climb to 23,730,610.
Aiport bosses put the hike down to new routes from operator Jet2 to Krakow in Poland and Naples in Italy; Monarch launching services to Tel Aviv in Israel and Lisbon in Portugal; and large numbers of football fans heading to matches to watch Manchester City in the Champions League and Liverpool in the Europa League.
There were nearly 15,000 aircraft movements in April an increase of 12% compared to April 2015.
Ken O’Toole, Manchester Airports CEO, said: “It’s been another strong month for growth and it sets the tone for what we hope will be a record summer for Manchester Airport.
“April saw new route launches from Jet2.com and Monarch to the likes of Krakow, Naples and Tel Aviv and May sees the launch of direct flights to Los Angeles and Boston with Thomas Cook Airlines.
“There are many reasons people visit Manchester but football is one of the citys key selling points and when fans are here, we know they go on to spend money in hotels, bars, restaurants, cafes and other attractions.
“It is pleasing to see the airport playing such a positive role in driving the visitor economy of the North West in this way.
Freight was also up in April with a 9% increase, taking the rolling annual total to 104,228 tonnes.
The airport’s success story was mirrored elsewhere within Manchester Airports Group, with traffic up 6.7% group-wide and London Stansted airport seeing its 25th month of consecutive growth, and its highest annual passenger total since 2008.
