Manchester Airports Group (MAG) said the “positive trend” had been improved upon during the first week of August, as 99% of passengers cleared in half an hour or less, while 84% went through in 15 minutes or under.

At Stansted, 99% of passengers cleared security within 15 minutes last month.

The statistics were released as MAG revealed a recovery in overall passenger levels during July to 85% of pre-Covid traffic – with 5.5 million travellers using its three airports.

The figure across Manchester, Stansted and East Midlands, rose from 82% in May and 84% in June.

Stansted’s numbers reached 90% of 2019 levels, totalling 2.5 million passengers, while Manchester welcomed 2.6 million passengers, accounting for 82% of pre-pandemic traffic. East Midlands reported more than 400,000 passengers.

MAG also reported to have recruited more than 300 staff across its business last month, taking its total since January to more than 2,000.

Chief executive Charlie Cornish said: “We continue to see a strong recovery and, having welcomed more than 2,000 new colleagues into our business, are laying the foundations for passenger volumes and customer service to return to pre-pandemic levels in 2023.”