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Manchester Airport growth surge continues with record October stats

Passenger levels at Manchester Airport have soared yet again to break the 2m barrier in October.

A record 2,087,149 holidaymakers and business travellers used the airport last month, a year-on-year increase of 4%, to make it the busiest October since the airport was established 77 years ago.

As a result, Manchester Airport is now expecting to hit an annual total of 23m passengers at the end of the year.

The site’s managing director, Ken O’Toole, said: “October has been another very positive month with strong growth nudging us toward the 23m passenger mark.

“We are seeing more and more passengers ‘Fly Manchester’, which is evident after our most successful year on record.”

The month saw scheduled international passenger numbers leap by 7% year on year, with airport bosses attributing the increase to Manchester United and rivals Manchester City qualifying for the Champions League.

Football is believed to have made additional contributions to an increase in charter flights, which included fans flying in from Dublin and trips to Bournemouth.

Ken continued: “With our two full length runways and a £1bn transformation program announced, Manchester Airport has, and will continue to have, the available capacity and demand to meet the needs of our catchment area that extends as far North as Scotland and South to the Midlands.”

On average, more than 67k people flew to Manchester every day, including Chinese President Xi Jinping, who was given a tour of the city by PM David Cameron.

Air freight, meanwhile, rose by 14% in comparison to October 2014, with the annual rolling total for cargo carried hitting over 102k tonnes.

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