Manchester Airport is likely to become the second busiest in the UK after Heathrow within 15 years.
That’s according to the assessment of Geoff Muirhead, the chief executive of Manchester Airport Group, which also owns Bournemouth International Airport, East Midlands Airport and Humberside International Airport.
Speaking to the Financial Times newspaper, Mr Muirhead predicted that the large number of airlines operating from Manchester would lead to it becoming the second most popular, in terms of passengers, inside 15 years.
At the current time, it has the fourth highest rate of passenger traffic, behind Stansted and Gatwick as well as Heathrow.
Mr Muirhead’s target is ambitious, especially considering that the airport’s passenger growth increased at a far lower rate (0.2 per cent) than the UK average last year.
However, airport managers believe that a growth rate of 6.2 per cent – double the current average in Britain – will lead to massive expansion as more people take flights from the northern city rather than travelling to London.
Airlines that operate from Manchester include British Airways, Virgin Atlantic, bmi, Monarch, MyTravel, Ryanair and Jet2.com.
The latest new route began yesterday (May 1) – a three times weekly service to Toronto Hamilton Airport. Today, a twice-weekly flight to Calgary and Vancouver was inaugurated.
