Football fans drive bumper month for Manchester Airport

 

Aston Villa fans heading to Istanbul and Northern-based Arsenal fans flying to Hungary for their respective European finals made for a bumper month at Manchester Airport.

More than 2.9m passengers flew into or out of Manchester Airport last month – making it the busiest May on record for the Northern hub.

The most popular destinations included traditional half-term favourites like Alicante, Mallorca, and Faro – but football fans caused jumps in traffic to both Istanbul and Budapest.

More than 18,000 people travelled to Istanbul – the venue for Aston Villa’s Europa League final victory – last month and even though Manchester is a long way from North London more than 8,000 people flew to Budapest where Arsenal lost in the Champions League Final.

Manchester Airport Managing Director Chris Woodroofe said:

“We’re proud to connect the North to the world – and a big part of that is making sure people from the region can get to the big global events that matter to them.

“Last month we saw hundreds of football fans following their teams in Europe and we were really happy to be able to play a part in getting them to matches that they will never forget, particularly for Aston Villa fans.

“I’m especially pleased that we were able to give them a really good experience here at the airport too – last month the majority of our passengers waited for five minutes or less to get to security meaning they could relax in our departure lounges and enjoy all we have to offer.”

The airport’s £1.3bn improvement programme is wrapping up this year. It means the vast majority of passengers – everyone except for Ryanair passengers – will now use the airport’s state-of-the-art new Terminal 2, which has already won the Prix Versailles for architecture and design.

The full footprint of the new Terminal 2 is now open to the public and the final few retailers and features have been opening over the last few weeks and months. New arrivals in the departure lounge include a Fever Tree bar, the Great Northern Market food hall, a Chanel store and more.

The airport also recently announced that its first Wetherspoon’s pub – to be named the Belle Vue after the historic Manchester stadium – will open in Terminal 2 in September.

The expansion of Terminal 2 has led to the closure of Terminal 1, the oldest part of the airport. It has also allowed work to start on a project to revamp Terminal 3, adding extra space and facilities – including the new Sporting Chance bar, which opened earlier this year.