The airport said more than 200,000 passengers were expected to fly from the northern hub this week with pupils in areas including Merseyside, Trafford and Yorkshire on their breaks, plus a further 275,000 next week, when schools in most of Greater Manchester and Cheshire close.

The airport is now seeing passenger numbers exceeding 90% of 2019 levels for the first time since the start of the pandemic, with popular half-term destinations include Dubai, Paris, Tenerife, Alicante and Lanzarote.

Chris Woodroofe, the airport’s managing director, said: “We look forward to welcoming almost half a million passengers over the half-term period, and helping them get their trips off to the best possible start.
 
“Despite the pressures on household budgets, families remain keen to travel and we are confident that passenger numbers will continue to recover into the summer.”

He added: “During busy periods it is important that you carefully plan your journey to the airport and allow plenty of time. We have seen disruption on the rail network in recent months, so this advice is particularly important if you are travelling to the airport by train.”
 
The airport reported more than 1.6 million passengers departing and arriving in January – more than double the 750,000 or so who travelled through in the same month last year, when Omicron testing requirements remained in place.
 
The airport also revealed more than 92% of passengers cleared security in under 10 minutes last month. It added it expected this to continue throughout February.