Following a busy half-term holiday in the UK, Manchester Airports Group (MAG) saw its busiest month (February) in terms of passenger traffic since the pandemic began.
MAG, which owns and operates Manchester as well as London Stansted and East Midlands airports served 2.4 million passengers in February – 62% of the traffic seen in the same month in 2019.
These latest figures mean that the recovery of MAG airports has now exceeded the levels seen in November 2021, when passenger numbers peaked at 58% of 2019 levels.
The boost in traffic is in part due to the removal of the UK’s inbound testing requirements, which were relaxed ahead of the half-term holidays.
MAG has welcomed the UK Government’s ‘Living with Covid’ plan, which recognises the very high personal, economic and international costs of border measures and sets the bar for bringing in new measures “very high”. The airport group is now calling on the government to remove the remaining travel measures, including the Passenger Locator Form (PLF) at the earliest opportunity.
The airport operator is also recruiting for hundreds of new roles across its three airports, to support operations and ensure passengers have the best possible experience as they go on long awaited holidays.
“The rate at which we have seen travel recover after the setback of Omicron restrictions is hugely encouraging for the aviation sector,” said MAG CEO, Charlie Cornish.
“The number of passengers that travelled through our airports in February shows the sheer demand for international travel that exists once people are freed from testing and other restrictions.
“Now that the Government has made clear that it will only consider implementing new public health measures at the border in extreme circumstances, we are well on the way to a sustained recovery as we head into the summer season.
“With so much excitement ahead for the sector, this is the perfect time to consider a career in aviation and so it is fantastic to be able to offer hundreds of new jobs at our airports across the country.”
