UK’s largest airports group records positive half year results

A successful summer season delivered a positive first-half performance for MAG, leaving it in a strong position to continue its investment in its airports to improve customer service and support sustainable growth.

MAG (Manchester Airports Group), which owns and operates Manchester, London Stansted and East Midlands Airports, today published its interim results for the period 1 April – 30 September 2023, during which it generated record half-year revenues of £705.6m (FY23: £565.2m).

Its airports collectively handled 34.9m passengers during the period, up 4.4m on the prior year. That represented just under 96% of pre-pandemic levels. In July, London Stansted became the first major airport to exceed pre-Covid volumes when compared to the same month in 2019, with Manchester marking that milestone in October, when East Midlands reached the 98% mark.

Manchester Airport welcomed 16.4m passengers between April and September, with 15.8m passing through London Stansted and 2.7m through East Midlands.

 Not only did all MAG airports increase passenger volumes between April-September, they delivered consistently good service levels, with the vast majority of passengers passing through security in 15 minutes of less throughout the summer (Manchester – 96%, London Stansted – 98%, East Midlands – 100%). In July, all three received the highest possible rating from the Civil Aviation Authority for the service they provide to passengers with assisted travel needs.

Strong September performance for MAG airports

  MAG served 5.9m passengers in September

Passenger levels at London Stansted were 100% of those seen in September 2019

Service levels across all three of MAG’s airports were very high across the month

Manchester Airports Group (MAG) served 5.9m passengers across its airports in September. Traffic across the Group, which owns and operates Manchester, London Stansted and East Midlands Airports, was up 21% on September 2022.

Service levels in September remained high, with 100% of passengers at East Midlands Airport passing through security in less than 15 minutes. The figure was 99% for London Stansted and 98% at Manchester.

London Stansted served 2.6m passengers during the month, slightly ahead of the volumes recorded in September 2019.

Manchester Airport served 2.8m passengers in September – an increase of 12% on September 2022 and equal to 96% of pre-pandemic levels. East Midlands’ September traffic of just under 500,000 passengers was 25% higher than the same month in 2022, equivalent to 84% of pre-Covid traffic.

Across the group, the 5.9m figure represented 97% of 2019 levels.

On 1st October, Ken O’Toole assumed the role of MAG CEO, as Charlie Cornish stepped down after 13 years. Ken had previously held several senior roles across MAG, most recently at Deputy CEO and formerly as CEO of both London Stansted and Manchester Airports. Charlie Cornish now sits as MAG’s Chairman, following the retirement of Sir Adrian Montague.

Passengers:

	Manchester	London Stansted	East Midlands	MAG
Rolling 12-month total to Sept ’23	27,279,257	27,375,553	3,794,763	58,449,546
12-month total % change year-on-year	+31.2%	+32.2%	+29.2%	+31.5%
Sept ’23 total	2,831,930	2,620,118	464,348	5,916,396
Sept ’23 % change year-on-year	+12.2%	+10.0%	+25.1%	+12.1%

Cargo:

	Manchester	London Stansted	East Midlands
Sept 2023 total tonnes	5,977	24,043	31,385
Sept 2023 % change year on year	+12.1%	+13.2%	-7.2%

UK’s largest airport group served 5.8m passengers in June, equal to 96% of pre-pandemic levels

Manchester Airports Group (MAG) saw more than 5.8m passengers pass through its airports in June, an increase of 13.7% on June 2022.

The Group which owns Manchester, London Stansted and East Midlands Airports also recorded a rolling 12-month passenger total of more than 56 million passengers – up 67.8% on last year.

Manchester Airport served 2.8m passengers across the month – up 15% on June 2022, and London Stansted served 2.6m passengers – up 11% on last year. East Midlands Airport served 487,000 passengers in June, up 22% on June 2022.

All three airports passenger volumes were equivalent to more than 90% of June 2019 levels. London Stansted’s recovery continues to lead the way – and in June was 98% of 2019 levels. Manchester Airport’s passenger levels were equivalent to 94% and East Midlands’ stood at 91%. Collectively, the Group’s passenger figures were 96% of those seen in June 2019.

Across the early part of the summer season, MAG has delivered a consistent level of customer service for passengers. In the quarter from April-June 99% of passengers at East Midlands Airport passed through security in 15 minutes or less, the figure was 97% at London Stansted and 95% at Manchester. As the Group prepares for its busiest period when school holidays begin in July, it is working hard to ensure this high level of service continues.

ABM doubles cabin cleaning presence at Manchester Airport

ABM, a leading provider of integrated facility and aviation services, has more than doubled the number of airlines it serves at Manchester Airport and increased headcount by 163% following the award of three new contracts.  

The multi-year contracts serving 10 airlines mark a significant increase in presence at the Northern aviation hub, which is in the final stage of a £1.3billion transformation programme. ABM’s aviation division offers cabin cleaning as one of its two core services, with decades of successful service delivery experience and world class expertise. With cabin cleaning contracts at all major UK airports, the new partnerships are part of ABM’s strategic growth plan.   

As part of the agreements, ABM has invested significantly in new ground equipment including four minibuses, one high lift, one water service unit, one waste trailer and a duty manager car. The partnerships will also see the company supporting the ambitious growth plans and passenger experience campaigns from the different airlines with impeccably clean and hygienic planes, courtesy of ABM.   

Jim Niblock, ABM Managing Director for Aviation says: “Sustainable service delivery is highly dependent on a happy and engaged team on the ground. One contract has meant a significant number of new team members which is why management implemented regular crew room visits, and numerous one-to-ones with individuals in advance of contract mobilisation.   

Manchester Airport launches new UK-first apprenticeship scheme

Two- year operationally focused scheme is the first of its kind in the UK aviation sector

Paid programme gives apprentices a foundation degree level qualification.

Scheme builds on the airport’s commitment to delivering skills and education opportunities to communities closest to it

Manchester Airport announced the launch of a first-of-its-kind apprenticeship scheme, creating a new route for future airport leaders to embark on a career in aviation.

 The two-year scheme - titled Aviation Management - will give students experience of all the elements of and airport operation. Upon successful completion, apprentices will then be offered permanent roles at the airport, with opportunities to progress into team-leader positions and beyond as they develop through their careers.

 The scheme has been developed by Manchester Airports Group (MAG), as part of its long-term commitment to delivering education and skills training across the regions it serves, and to provide students with more choice when they leave education, offering a paid role with a structured development programme.

 Delivered in partnership with Trafford College, the apprenticeship will be the equivalent of a foundation degree or the first year of an undergraduate degree, with at least 30 students completing the programme, debt-free.

 Apprentices’ time will be split through a combination of workplace training at the airport, and classroom-based learning delivered at the on-site Manchester Airport Academy.

Manchester Airports Group airports in great shape ahead of start of summer season

Passenger volumes across Manchester Airports Group (MAG) in February were 90% of those seen pre-pandemic.

MAG, which owns and operates Manchester, London Stansted and East Midlands Airports, served 3.5 million passengers in February.

That marked an increase of 47% on February 2022, when Covid-19 testing requirements began to ease for travellers.

Manchester Airport served 1.7 million passengers last month, representing the highest proportion of 2019 traffic across MAG, at 93%.

London Stansted also handled 1.7 million passengers across the month - representing 92% of travellers served in 2019. East Midlands Airport’s traffic for the month was 64% of pre-pandemic levels.

In February, London Stansted marked 10 years of MAG ownership, over which time the airport’s passenger figures rose from 17 million in 2013, to 28 million in 2019 – now making it one of the UK’s largest airports. Since acquisition, MAG has invested millions of pounds in the airport’s facilities and introduced new airlines including Jet2 and Emirates.

London Stansted now serves more European destinations than any other UK airport, and in 2021 secured planning permissions to increase its passenger capacity to 43 million passengers per year.

All three of MAG's airports are continuing to provide good service levels to passengers as the industry nears the official start of its summer season. Service levels have been primarily driven by recruitment over the last 12 months, where since February 2022, MAG has welcomed more than 1,600 new security officers, over 1,000 of which were at Manchester Airport.

MAG served 3.5 million passengers in February, equivalent to 90% of pre-pandemic levels

MAG’s rolling 12 months passenger total stands at 53 million

In February, London Stansted marked 10 years of MAG ownership, celebrating its increase in passenger numbers and airport investment since 2013

UK Border Force to screw up Christmas for millions of travellers........

Photo by Yolanda Suen on Unsplash

Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union has confirmed that its members working for the UK's Border Force workers will strike at six major UK airports for at least eight days over the Christmas period screwing up travel plans for millions.

The union has called strike action between 23rd and 26th December, and then from 28th to 31st December and will affect the UK's major airports London Heathrow, London Gatwick, Manchester, Birmingham, Glasgow and Cardiff.  A strike will also impact the south coast port of Newhaven, which would have devastating consequences for the only loss-making route to Dieppe by Transmanche Ferries / DFDS.  These dates have been chosen by the union, it says,  to have the maximum impact by causing the most disruption to passengers. 

PCS Mark Serwotka told media that 40,000 of its members were having to use food banks, while 45,000 were claiming in-work benefits. Although, union reps couldn't say how many of those going on strike were included in those numbers.   The union are calling for a 10% pay increase, better job security, with no cuts to pensions or redundancies.  

eGates should remain operational throughout the strikes for those with biometric passports from EU countries, Australia, Canada, Iceland, Japan, Liechtenstein, New Zealand, Norway, Singapore, South Korea, Switzerland or the USA.

Most civil servants have received just a 2% pay rise this year and after a pay freeze for a number of years. PCS said 86% of its 100,000 members across 124 government departments and public sector employers have voted in favour of strike action and promised more strikes - over all departments would be called next year.  So far only a few jobcentres and benefits offices will take strike action in the coming weeks, however, the union is already making plans for most Universal Credit service centres to see crippling walkouts in the new year. 

The Christmas action will affect millions of people who had been planning getaways over the festive period and to reunite with relatives from overseas.  Robert Jenrick, the Immigration Minister called the strike "unjustifiable and will ruin the plans of thousands of families and businesses across the country. - While we are working closely with all UK ports and airports and have robust plans in place to minimise any delays if strike action goes ahead, passengers should be prepared for their plans to be severely disrupted."

Gatwick Airport said it will deploy extra staff on strike days to help with the welfare of stranded passengers and were in consultation with Border Force over mitigation however, delays of between 4 and 6 hours should be expected.  

The Business Travel Association warned  "The entire travel support system will once more be plunged into dealing with cancellations and disruptions rather than bookings with no financial recompense.  - further strike action puts British workers’ Christmases at risk. Hard workers up and down the country will be stranded, struggling to get home."

A spokesperson for London Heathrow Airport claimed that "Our priority is to ensure passengers get through the border safely and as quickly as possible. We are working closely with airlines and Border Force on mitigation plans for potential strike action by Border Force officers and these plans will now be implemented for the notified days."

Manchester Airport said "It is hugely regrettable that the PCS Union has chosen to disrupt one of the most important times of the year for international travel by calling a strike by Border Force officers at several UK ports, including Manchester Airport, for 23-26 December and 28-31 December.  We urge union and Government representatives to work together to find a solution to avert this strike action."

It added: "We will be working with our airlines to provide passengers with as much advance notice of cancelled services as possible, so that people have the chance to rebook their travel around the strike days. Arriving passengers should also be prepared for much longer immigration queues on strike days, owing to reduced Border Force staffing levels.  Those due to travel during the affected period should look out for communications from their airlines over the coming days."

easyJet expands its base and network at Manchester Airport

easyJet will add a 21st aircraft to its Manchester base and launch a new beach route to Murcia in South East Spain for this summer

 

Flights will launch on 2nd May 2023 and will operate twice weekly on Tuesdays and Saturdays, 

easyJet has revealed its plans for expansion at Manchester today, announcing that an additional Airbus A320 family aircraft will be based at the airport from May. The airline will also launch a new summer route between Manchester and Murcia in South-East Spain.

The 186-seat A320neo aircraft will be based in Manchester from May and operate throughout the summer season. It becomes the 21st Airbus family easyJet aircraft based at the airport, which now includes a total of six A320neo aircraft.

Compared to the current generation of aircraft, the NEO brings significant improvements in terms of environmental and operational efficiencies: up to 15% less fuel consumption and therefore less CO2 emissions, and 50% less noise during take-off and landing. easyJet is the largest single-brand operator of NEOs in Europe. 

The addition of the new aircraft will also create around 40 local job opportunities at the airport and is a clear symbol of the airline’s commitment to the airport. Across the last year easyJet has added 16 new routes and now offers customers a total of 77 routes to choose from. 

The new route between Manchester and Murcia in Spain is scheduled to launch on 2 May 2023, with twice weekly departures on Tuesdays and Saturdays, offering customers in Manchester even more choice when it comes to choosing a beach holiday destination. Seats go on sale at easyJet.com and via the mobile app from 7th December.

Ali Gayward, easyJet’s UK Country Manager, said:  “I am delighted to be announcing our plans for expansion at Manchester airport today. The addition of another aircraft will help us to deliver growth in Manchester and offer customers an even wider range of destinations, like our new summer route to Murcia in Spain, which will provide our customers in the North West with a direct connection to a region which offers a variety of rich culture and beautiful beaches in abundance, all with low fares and great customer service.

We know that holidays are important to people, not only does travelling connect friends and family but it offers a wealth of benefits, from promoting wellbeing to experiencing new cultures. The results of our survey revealed today just go to show what a priority it is for people, with so many determined to protect their holidays. With our low fares and unrivalled European network, easyJet is ideally placed to offer a fantastic value and great quality holiday that people don’t have to compromise on. It is fantastic to see that so many consumers plan to travel next year already, and we look forward to welcoming them onboard.”

Manchester Airport Managing Director Chris Woodroofe said:  “We are pleased to see easyJet expanding its base here, having significantly increased the number of destinations it flies to from Manchester over the past year.  It is also exciting to see the introduction of a Murcia service, which I am sure will be hugely popular with passengers this summer.”

For over 15 years easyJet has had a base at Manchester and since then has flown over 25 million passengers to and from the airport. Today, easyJet is the second largest airline in Manchester and operates 77 routes in the UK, Europe, North Africa and the Middle East.

 

Traffic at MAG airports at its highest level since the pandemic began

The UK’s largest group of airports has seen the strongest month of recovery since the pandemic began, figures for October reveal.

Manchester Airports Group (MAG), which owns and operates Manchester, London Stansted and East Midlands Airports, served just more than five million passengers in October - 93% of passengers served in the same month in 2019.

The figure is up 7% on last month, with passenger demand stimulated by the October half-term school holidays.

Both London Stansted and Manchester Airports served around 2.3 million passengers, equating to 94% and 93% of pre-pandemic traffic.

London Stansted  Photo MAG

East Midlands Airport’s recovery also continued, serving more than 350,000 passengers across the month – equivalent to 84% of traffic seen in 2019, which was up 16% month on month.

The Group’s 12-month rolling passenger total was more than 46.7 million which is an increase of 336% on 2021.

As passenger numbers continue to increase close to pre-covid levels, so too have the number of colleagues employed by MAG across its three airports. Since January thousands of new colleagues have started roles across the business. That has meant that, as recovery has continued, service levels have also improved significantly. For example across October, 99% of passengers at London Stansted and East Midlands Airports cleared security in 15 mins or less, with the figure standing at 87% for Manchester Airport.

MAG is now back in its normal recruitment cycle, currently advertising roles in preparation for increased demand in summer 2023.

This will ensure that passengers have the best possible airport experience next year and beyond.

Passengers:

Manchester Airport  Photo MAG

	Manchester	London Stansted	East Midlands	MAG
Rolling 12-month total to October 22	21,904,243	21,720,313	3,077,403	46,701,959
12-month total % change year on year	+373.9%	+301.0%	+359.5%	336.1%
Rolling 12- month total October 21	4,621,601	5,411,333	669,827	10,702,761
October 22 total	2,317,823	2,348,327	353,445	5,019,595
October 22 % change year on year	+92.3%	+75.3%	+65.7%	+82.0%
October 22 % change on October 2019	-7.3%	-5.6%	-16.3%	-7.2%

 

SUN-AIR resumes British Airways’ flights between Manchester and Billund, Denmark

Photo British Airways/MAG

British Airways flights, operated by Danish airline SUN-AIR, will restart between Manchester and Billund on 31 October 2022.

After a break of more than two years, the route will resume five times a week flown on SUN-AIR’s Dornier 328 Jet aircraft. Flights will operate on Monday mornings and in the evenings of the remaining weekdays.

Prior to the pandemic, the service operated for over two decades and carried more than 460,000 passengers from Manchester to Billund. The Danish city is popular with business travellers as a gateway to the wider Jutland region and is most famous as the home of Lego - the original Legoland theme park and factory are a short distance from the airport.

SUN-AIR has been a franchise partner of British Airways since 1996. It independently operates flights on aircraft bearing British Airways’ livery.

The airline suspended its scheduled flights in March 2020 but resumed in September 2022 with the reintroduction of flights between Billund and London City Airport, and will now restart its Manchester service.  

Niels Sundberg, CEO of SUN-AIR, said: “We are incredibly pleased to restart this route from Billund and offer our passengers a direct connection to Manchester with our well-known full-service product on behalf of British Airways. We’ll monitor the route closely and will look to increase frequency if we achieve the support on this service that we saw pre-pandemic."

Chris Fordyce, Head of Alliances at British Airways, said: “As the aviation industry continues to recover from the pandemic, it’s really encouraging to see SUN-AIR restarting routes that have been on hold. This route will offer even greater connectivity between Denmark and the UK, and we look forward to seeing its popularity return.”

Manchester Airport Managing Director, Chris Woodroofe, added: “We are delighted to see SUN-AIR and British Airways resuming flights to Billund. This is a very successful, long-standing service, which plays a crucial role in connecting more than 22 million people in our wider catchment area with six million people in mainland Denmark. I am sure that it will prove to be just as popular as it was prior to the pandemic.”

Loganair ramps up Manchester – Aberdeen service

Loganair E145.  Photo Loganair

Loganair, the UK’s largest regional airline, has confirmed an expansion on its service between Manchester and Aberdeen as it responds to growing demand.

Up from its current three return services per day to Aberdeen, the airline has expanded its offering on the route and has added a fourth daily service. The additional service will depart Manchester at 12:20 arriving in Aberdeen at 13:30, with an earlier 10.30 departure from Aberdeen for those travelling from Scotland.

For customers headed north from Manchester, the enhanced schedule is likely to be welcome news by those working in the energy sector; many of whom travel to Aberdeen to meet numerous helicopter flights that connect the North-east of Scotland to offshore platforms across the North Sea.

For those in Aberdeen, the additional flight times will facilitate better connectivity via Manchester Airport to destinations around the world thanks to Loganair’s interline and codeshare partners; including United Airlines, Singapore Airlines, Emirates, Qatar Airways and Turkish Airlines.

The additional direct service between the two cities has a flight time of one hour and 15 minutes and is operated on an Embraer 145 jet, with fares starting from £76 one-way.

Luke Lovegrove, chief commercial officer at Loganair said: “We are thrilled to expand our offering across our service from Manchester to Aberdeen as we respond to growing demand.

Strong summer of recovery for Manchester Airports Group airports

Manchester Airport Control Tower - Photo MAG

Manchester Airports Group (MAG) saw its strongest period of recovery this summer since the pandemic began, handling four times as many passengers in the peak summer months of this year compared to 2021.

Figures for August published today by the Group - which operates Manchester, London Stansted, and East Midlands Airports - saw more than 16 million passengers pass through its terminals in June, July and August, representing 86% of the traffic seen over the same period in 2019.

The strong return of passenger volumes contrasts last summer, when Government restrictions on international travel meant that MAG served just 4 million passengers in the peak summer months.

The Group served 5.8 million passengers in August alone this year, increasing from 5.5 million in July. Manchester and London Stansted Airport each welcomed more than 2.5 million passengers last month for the first time since 2019. East Midlands Airport has also seen its traffic steadily increase over the summer, serving nearly 430,000 passengers in August.

Passengers:

	Manchester	London Stansted	East Midlands	MAG
Rolling 12-month total to August 22	19,244,204	19,413,381	2,734,904	41,392,489
12-month total % change year on year	+454.5%	+382.9%	+497.1%	+420.8%
Rolling 12- month total to August 21	3,470,316	4,019,885	458,039	7,948,240
August 22 total	2,732,718	2,597,995	428,902	5,759,615
August 22 % change year on year	+215.6%	+127.3%	+175.2%	+166.1%
August 22 % change on August 2019	-18.0%	-9.3%	-29.2%	-15.3%

 

Emirates to return to pre-pandemic schedule at Manchester Airport with a third daily A380 service

Emirates, the world’s largest international airline, is returning to its pre-pandemic flight schedule from Manchester Airport as it continues to scale UK operations to meet sustained demand.

Landing or taking off?   Emirates A380  Photo Emirates. 

From 1 October 2022, the airline will restart its thrice daily service, adding a daily Boeing 777 service to its existing twice-daily A380 service, operating seven days a week. From 30 October, this schedule will be further upgraded with a third daily A380 service offering capacity to fly more than 1,500 passengers to Dubai every day.

The revised flight schedule will see Emirates reintroduce flight EK022 which will depart Manchester at 09:50hrs, arriving in Dubai at 20:00hrs local time. The return flight, EK021 will depart Dubai at 03:00hrs, arriving in Manchester at 07:45hrs local time. From 30 October, a slightly later flight schedule will operate*.

Photo Emirates 

By October, Emirates will serve the UK with 110 weekly flights across seven UK hubs including Heathrow, Gatwick, London Stansted, Manchester, Birmingham, Newcastle and Glasgow.

Richard Jewsbury, Divisional Vice President, Emirates UK, said: “As more international destinations have relaxed travel restrictions and opened up, demand has continued to rise, and we’re delighted to offer better connectivity to our customers with this schedule. Manchester is a vital hub for us in the UK and our operations from the airport connect both passengers and businesses in the North West with our ever-growing global network.”

Chris Woodroofe, Managing Director of Manchester Airport, said: “It is excellent to see Emirates reinstate its third daily frequency here at Manchester Airport. It’s a clear indication of the demand to fly from here to Dubai and beyond, and of the role we play in connecting the North to key global destinations.

“I am sure the additional flight will be hugely popular with the 22m people in our catchment area, and myself and the team look forward to working with Emirates as they continue to grow from Manchester Airport.”

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