Airline passenger news and views

Not that many years ago, Manchester was a relatively small airport. In the intervening years it has become more than just a regional success story, it has become a true gateway to the whole community.

Manchester Airports Group (MAG) is the largest UK-owned airport operator, serving 24 million passengers every year. It owns Manchester, East Midlands, Bournemouth and Humberside airports and is a successful and thriving business.

East Midlands airport is much smaller in passenger numbers but is the major hub for pure freight and counts the Royal Mail, DHL, TNT and UPS as its customers.  The size of the operation is staggering and the efficiency with which the Manchester airports group have put it together should make Heathrow's operators feel deeply embarrassed.

Flights from Manchester now include 65 airlines flying direct to around 200 destinations. Manchester airport employs around 19,000 people directly on-site in what is a true boost to the North of England economy.

Perhaps one of the telling features is the size of the Virgin Atlantic operation at Manchester.  This is, of course, primarily leisure driven but Virgin's code-share partner Continental Airlines also flies a daily service direct from Manchester to Newark. Add to this the American Airlines and Delta service to JFK and it is easy to see why Manchester airport is so popular.

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