Before temporary rules were introduced in November and December, the group – which owns Manchester, Stansted and East Midlands airports – reportedly saw a strong recovery.
According to data from November, MAG recorded around 60% of pre-pandemic traffic, with Stansted recovering at the fastest rate overall.
However, figures for December released on Tuesday (18 January) showed overall traffic was down by 54.8% compared to the same month in 2019, as a result of testing requirements put in place in response to the Omicron variant.
Despite this, the group reported a "bookings surge" in the days following the news that pre-departure and Day 2 PCR testing would be removed.
In December, passenger volumes at Manchester and Stansted were down 53.8% and 54.9% on 2019 levels respectively, with East Midlands’ numbers down 63%.
MAG’s rolling 12-month total passenger numbers show that, while it served 9.1% fewer passenger in 2021 compared to 2020, the three airports saw a "much stronger recovery" in recent months compared to the same period a year earlier.
MAG chief executive Charlie Cornish said now that Omicron testing requirements have been removed, people are "clearly excited" about where they can travel this year.
"We are confident that the recovery will be strong as we head towards to the summer, and the sharp increase in bookings in recent days is hugely encouraging," he added.
"It is clear that the temporary reintroduction of travel restrictions impacted passenger confidence during December, which came after we had seen a strong revival of passenger volumes up to November."
The group is also recruiting for hundreds of new roles across its airports.
