Airport News
Manchester Airport yesterday (25 June) celebrated its 75th anniversary. The airport, which first opened on 25 June 1938, is part of Manchester Airports Group (MAG), which serves nearly 42m passengers through its ownership and operation of Manchester, London Stansted, East Midlands and Bournemouth airports.
Chief operating officer for MAG, Andrew Cowan, said, “This summer Manchester has surpassed 20m passengers again and we are the third largest airport in the UK, while the company is responsible for 42m passengers as a group of airports and we will begin to build our Airport City development this year, further cementing Manchester’s reputation as a European business destination. We’ve achieved much in our opening 75 years of existence and we’re well placed for an even brighter future.”
In the first 14 months of operation Manchester Airport handled 7,600 passengers, the equivalent of a summer morning's work by today’s standards. The airport recently passed the 20m passenger mark again, having reached a peak of 22m in 2007.
The original 1938 airport route network included Western Super-Mare, Croydon and Doncaster, all in the UK, whereas Manchester now serves close to 200 international destinations worldwide. The early Railway Air Services airlines have been replaced by the likes of Emirates, American, Etihad, Singapore, Qatar, United and Delta on the departure boards.
Picture: Chief operating officer Andrew Cowan
