More than one million passengers are set to fly through Manchester Airport this Easter, with bosses confident there will be no security delays as seen this time last year.
The school holidays for Easter are always a particularly busy time for flights, with this year no different according to the airport. Manchester Airport bosses estimate that a total of 1,174,362 passengers will fly from or arrive at the airport over the Easter break.
This is compared to 1,038,175 last year – a 13.1 per cent year-on-year increase. It was around this time last year and in the months leading up to Easter that the airport regularly made the headlines as massive queues and long delays were seen. It was due to passenger numbers rising dramatically following the dropping of Covid travel regulations.
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The chaos was blamed on low staffing numbers in various sections of the airport, especially security, as many had left or been let go while the airport was quiet. A huge recruitment and training drive was put in place as a result which now appears to be paying dividends.
The airport says that at least 95 per cent of people made it through security in 15 minutes or less in February, something they say they are confident of maintaining through this Easter period and into the summer months.
These 1.1 million passengers will be going to and arriving from 158 destinations on more than 7,300 flights. Dubai, Dublin, and Alicante are amongst the most popular destinations with a number of new destinations not available last year, including Catania in Italy, Kuwait, and Bahrain.
The airport has also confirmed all of its bars, restaurants and cafes are now fully open to accommodate the vast number of passengers.
Manchester Airport managing director Chris Woodroofe said: "Easter is always a hugely popular time to get away, as people look to take advantage of the school holidays and grab a bit of Spring sunshine. Manchester Airport is the UK’s global gateway in the North, and that means we have a wide range of destinations for travellers from all parts of the region to choose from – whether that’s a city break, a European resort or a far-flung long-haul getaway.
"We’re looking forward to a successful Easter and have put a range of new measures in place to make sure passengers see the airport at its best. We’ve got state of the art technology to help us track how long people are spending in queues and a new 100-person resilience team that can step in and trouble shoot any problems that may occur.
"In February more than 95 per cent of people got through security in under 15 minutes and we’re confident we will maintain that over the Easter period and into the summer."
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