Manchester Airport records over 32m passengers in 2025

Almost 2.4m passengers flew through Manchester Airport last month – setting a new record and meaning the hub recorded 32m passengers in a year for the first time.

In total 32,088,626 passengers flew into or out of Manchester Airport in 2025 – up 4% on 2024 and cementing Manchester Airport’s place as the third biggest in the UK, behind only Heathrow and Gatwick.

The vast majority of those passengers flew from the airport’s brand-new, £1.3bn Terminal 2, which is now almost fully complete meaning December’s passengers were the first to experience several key new elements.

Last month saw the opening of the full footprint of the new terminal – that included opening a whole new route from security through a new, second World Duty Free store and into the airport’s new Boutique Mall – which will be home to high-end shops, a cocktail bar and more.

It opened up a significant amount of new space in the Departure Lounge and a huge new section of the terminal’s arrivals area.

It helped make sure the month’s passengers got a great experience at the airport – with 94% waiting for 10 minutes or less to get to security, and almost three quarters waiting five minutes or less.

The month was boosted by the airport’s busiest ever Christmas break – with over a million passengers flying between December 19, when most schools broke up, and the end of the month.

Manchester Airport Managing Director Chris Woodroofe said:

“Here at Manchester Airport, we’re proud to connect the North to the world – so the fact we were able to serve a record-breaking 32m passengers in 2025 is great news.

“But it’s not just about numbers – it’s about giving those passengers the best possible experience so they can start their holidays right here at the airport.

“That’s why I’m particularly proud that we were able to provide a brilliant service to our passengers with the vast majority of them barely waiting to get to security so they could be relaxing in our departure lounges more quickly.

“Once there, passengers in Terminal 2 will have noticed some big differences. The full footprint of the Terminal is now open including extra space as well as new shops and eateries. There’s still more to follow in the early part of this year too.

“That alone means it would be an exciting 2026 as we put those final touches on Terminal 2 – but we’re also going to be really getting stuck into the improvement work we’re doing in Terminal 3 as well, which will bring more space and new shops, bars and restaurants.

“We’ve got another epic year ahead and I’m looking forward to breaking more records so we can welcome even more passengers to the UK’s global gateway in the North.”

Now that the whole footprint of the new departure lounge is open to the public, there are just some specific retailers and features left to open. Those include the Great Northern Market – an airport-first market hall style eating area served by pop up street food kitchens – and Manchester Airport’s first Wetherspoon’s. These will open in the early part of 2026.

The Boutique Mall will be the airport’s high-end shopping area when shops including an airport-first Chanel store, Le Labo and Jo Malone open in the next few weeks.

The early part of the year will also see the installation of an artwork based on and using parts of the iconic chandeliers that hung in Terminal 1 when it opened to the public in the 1960s. The reimagined chandelier artwork will be in Security East.

Beyond the departure lounge, new branches of WHSmith, Costa and Gregg’s opened in the arrivals area of Terminal 2 – with Gregg’s handing out free sausage rolls to the first customers.

The investment in Terminal 2 is helping to unlock the full capacity of Manchester’s dual runways and driving the airport’s continued growth, letting it launch new routes like Islamabad with Pakistan International Airlines and Delhi with IndiGo, both of which launched in recent months.

It has also allowed the airport to migrate all airlines other than Ryanair to the new Terminal with Ryanair alone now operating from Terminal 3 – but using a new improved route into the terminal via Terminal 1 check-in.

Manchester Airport recently announced further details of its multi-million-pound plans to improve Terminal 3 by expanding it to make use of space that will be available when Terminal 1 closes. Some new parts of Terminal 3 will open early next year, including new sports bar Sporting Chance.