Manchester airport sees record 2.2m passengers in December

Manchester airport recorded its busiest ever December last month, with 2.2 million passengers using the northern gateway.

The busiest day was December 29, with almost 89,000 people passing through the hub.

The record December figure came at the end of the airport’s busiest year, which saw more than 30 million passengers.

More growth is expected in 2025, as the airport’s £1.3 billion decade-long transformation programme will be completed.

More: Manchester airport passes 30m-passenger milestone

The new Terminal 2 will fully open later this year, meaning most passengers will use the facility, which opened its first phase in 2022.

The second phase will double the size of the terminal and add more than 25 new shops, bars and restaurants including the airport’s first Wetherspoon’s pub.

It will also add a new security hall, additional check-in desks and an art installation made from one of the airport’s chandeliers.

Chris Woodroofe, airport managing director, said: “We smashed our December record with 2.2 million passengers coming through the airport.

“It’s particularly pleasing that the vast majority of those passengers – just over three quarters – waited for five minutes or less to get to security.

“We’ve also got lots of other exciting plans for the year, including news about Terminals 1 and 3 that we’ll be announcing soon, and we look forward to welcoming even more passengers to the UK’s global gateway in the north.”

The most popular destination during December was Amsterdam with more than 110,000 passengers.

The Dutch city was followed by Dubai, which is boosted by large numbers using the Middle Eastern hub to connect to destinations such as Australia and others across Asia and Africa.

December’s top 10 destinations: Amsterdam – 110,980 passengersDubai – 108,534 passengersDublin – 107,076 passengersTenerife – 77,767 passengersParis Charles De Gaulle – 76,296 passengersAlicante – 71,989 passengersHamad International Airport – 62,710 passengersBelfast – 58,488 passengersArrecife (Lanzarote) – 48,257 passengersCopenhagen – 49,102 passengers