Manchester Airport has started off its Summer 2023 campaign shy of pre-pandemic movement statistics but higher than Summer 2022.
Using data from RadarBox.com, we will take a look at the airport’s first few weeks of the Summer 2023 season and how it all compares.
Without further ado, let’s get into the numbers…
The Numbers…
For April 2-9, Manchester Airport has handled 522 movements, based on a seven-day rolling average provided by the flight tracking company.
This represents an increase of 12.02% compared to the same period last year but is 33 movements short of achieving pre-pandemic levels.
Below is the last four weeks’ worth of data for the airport:
| Date | 2019 Numbers | 2022 Numbers | 2023 Numbers | Percentage Difference (2023 vs. 2022) |
| March 5-12 | 443 movements | 377 movements | 415 movements | +10.08% |
| March 12-19 | 443 movements | 371 movements | 423 movements | +14.02% |
| March 19-26 | 468 movements | 371 movements | 423 movements | +14.02% |
| March 26-April 2 | 548 movements | 471 movements | 497 movements | +5.52% |
Whilst Manchester Airport isn’t quite at pre-pandemic levels just yet, they are consistently performing better than in the same period in 2022.
As the weeks above in the table go on, you can also begin to see that the gap to pre-COVID levels either remains the same or is slowly catching up.
1.1m Passengers Expected Out of Manchester for Easter…
It’s clear that the airport is beginning to make gains, especially through its announcement this week regarding Easter holiday traffic.
For the two-week holiday, which is between April 1-16, around 1.1 million passengers will use the airport, which is a 13.1% year-on-year increase.
7,300 flights will operate to and from 158 destinations.
Managing Director of Manchester Airport, Chris Woodroofe, commented on this:
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“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 travelers 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 troubleshoots any problems that may occur.”
“In February, more than 95% 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.”
It’s Not All Doom & Gloom?
It remains clear that Manchester Airport is doing everything it can to increase its weekly flight movements.
Looking ahead, it will be interesting to see what the data will look like on the flight tracking company once the Easter holiday period is completed.
But for now, all eyes are on the airport to see what its Summer 2023 performance will look like.
