Manchester airport is reporting increased passenger numbers and revenue growth despite the collapse of Thomas Cook.
In its Interim Financial Report, which covers the six months until 30 September 2019 and compares the figures to the six months before 30 September 2018, it has been revealed the Manchester airport group saw 7.3% of revenue growth to £540.6m.
Manchester Airport Group Investments Limited (MAGIL), which includes Stansted and East Midlands airports, also reported its operating profits before significant items increased by 18.5% to £199.6m.
Passengers at Manchester specifically totalled 17.4m in the period, up 4.8%, and MAGIL put this down to backfilling of Monarch slots after the airline failed in 2017.
Passenger numbers across the whole group increased by 2% to £36.4m.
The growth also comes despite the collapse of Cook on 23 September, with Thomas Cook Airlines based out of Manchester airport.
“The collapse of Thomas Cook in September 2019 has had limited impact upon the trading results of MAGIL in the six months ended 30 September 2019,” said MAGIL’s report.
“Active management of the financial position means that MAGIL recovered all its outstanding receivables. MAGIL is actively working to mitigate the impact of the collapse on the performance in the second half of the year.”
It stressed Jet2.com, Tui and Virgin Atlantic have all committed to extend their operations at Manchester and add more flights at Stansted and East Midlands.
MAGIL’s routes expansion is ongoing, including a new service from Manchester to Los Angeles.
Other new long-haul routes announced from the group’s airports include Istanbul, Gothenburg, Stuttgart, Marseille, Nantes, Lille, Corvera (Mercia), Milan, Calvi, Verona and Skiathos.