Manchester Airport Soars To New Heights With 38th Consecutive Month Of Growth

• 12% growth in May, with 2.5 million passengers using the airport
• Alicante, Hamburg, Berlin, Stockholm and Paris see the biggest year-on-year growth
• Annual rolling total now at 26,795,288

Manchester Airport saw 12% growth in May as a host of new routes took off

More than 2.5 million people jetted off from the UK's third largest airport in May, meaning that 26,795,288 have now passed through its three terminals in the last 12 months.

With the start of half term and a number of airlines launching new routes, it was the airport's busiest May on record. Oman Air launched its daily service to Muscat, meaning there are now up to 12 flights a day to the Middle East direct from Manchester Airport. As well as connecting the North to Muscat, Oman Air also offers incredible onward connectivity across Asia and beyond.

Elsewhere, Thomas Cook Airlines also commenced twice weekly services to San Francisco as well as flights to the Greek island of Mykonos. BA CityFlyer also started seven new routes to European destinations - the first time it has flown between Manchester and Europe for 10 years.

The terminals also saw thousands of Manchester United fans make their journeys to Stockholm for the Europa League final. The airport saw more than 50 special charter flights departing for the Swedish city carrying United fans.

Collette Roche, Interim Managing Director for Manchester Airport, said: 'May was yet another busy month for the airport, with a host of airlines launching new routes for the summer season. The launch of additional flights to San Francisco with Thomas Cook Airlines and our new route to Muscat continue to highlight the popularity of direct flights from Manchester Airport for the 22 million people in our catchment area.

'As we move further into our summer season, we're looking forward to welcoming even more passengers and working with our airline partners to continue to grow our route network.'

The top 10 destinations in terms of year-on-year passenger growth are:

• Alicante
• Hamburg
• Berlin
• Stockholm
• Paris
• Nuremberg
• Muscat
• Tenerife
• Krakow
• San Francisco

Due to the extra demand, aircraft movements were also up last month by 9%, with 18,939 planes taking off and landing on the airport's two full-length runways.

Cargo also saw a boost, with 10,541 tonnes carried - an increase of 13% on May 2016. It equates to a 12% year-on-year increase, with the annual rolling tonnage now at 117,727.

There was growth across all of MAG's airports last month. London Stansted welcomed more than 2.3 million passengers to the airport during its busiest ever May, an increase of 7% over the same month in 2016 as Jet2.com's new southern base experienced a strong second month and Ryanair and easyJet also grew passenger numbers. Meanwhile, East Midlands and Bournemouth airports also grew passenger numbers in the month, with East Midlands growing 3.9% and Bournemouth growing 4.7%.