Fact Sheet: Airport Summary


  • Manchester Airport is part of The Manchester Airports Group (MAG), Britain’s second largest airport operating company. MAG also owns and operates East Midlands, Humberside and Bournemouth airports. In 2002-3, MAG had turnover of £328 million
  • The airport serves a wide area - one third of the UK population lives within a travel time of two hours from the airport
  • Manchester Airport served more than 19.5 million passengers in 2003: 9.5 million on international charter flights, 7 million on international scheduled flights and 3 million on domestic flights
  • By 2015 passenger numbers are expected to rise to 42 million
  • The airport is home to more than 95 airlines and 300 tour operators serving over 180 destinations worldwide
  • Together with cargo and private flights, there were 207,037 air transport movements at Manchester in 2003
  • Manchester has two parallel runways each 3,048 metres in length. Runway 2 opened in February 2001 at a cost of £172 million. It was the first new commercial runway to be built in the UK for more than 20 years
  • The opening of the second runway means Manchester is expected to become the UK’s second busiest airport within the next 15 years
  • Runway 2 features a £17 million package of environmental measures designed to minimise its impact on the countryside and local communities
  • The airport currently generates almost £600 million a year for the region and £1.7 billion nationally. In 15 years’ time, the airport should be providing £1.6 billion income for the North West and nearly £4 billion nationally