Manchester Airport prepares for busiest Christmas ever

Manchester Airport is expecting this year’s festive period to be the busiest in its 78-year history.

Between December 23 and January 2, a total of 640,125 passengers are due to travel through the facility.

The figure represents a year-on-year increase of 22%.

Airport bosses have forecast the busiest days to be December 23 and 30, as well as January 2, as people fly off on holiday and return home for Christmas.

Warmer destinations feature prominently on the airport’s list of the most popular holiday hotspots this month, including Tenerife, Alicante, Malaga, Lanzarote, Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

Dublin, Amsterdam, Paris and Geneva also made the top 10.

In a bid to slash queue times, Manchester Airport has revealed advice for passengers jetting off from the North West’s busiest travel hub this winter, calling on holidaymakers to remove cold-weather clothing such as gloves and scarfs ahead of security checks.

The airport’s head of security, Andrew Proudlove, said: “Winter weather fashion has a surprisingly big impact on airport security, slowing down the screening process and causing avoidable extra waiting times, which is why we are issuing this advice.

“Our advice is to take off your coats, extra layers, big boots, scarves and hats when you are in the security queue itself so you can put it straight in the tray for screening.”

He added: “When it comes to what you can and can’t pack in your hand luggage, the rules are exactly the same at Christmas as they are for the rest of the year.”