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MAG has reported continued strong growth in adjusted EBITDA with the release of its half year results, with profits up 9.6 per cent to £237 million.
The increase was driven by a record-breaking summer season.
For the period April 1st-September 30th, revenue increased 12.9 per cent to £545 million.
An increase in both long-haul and short haul destinations, as well as higher frequencies to existing destinations, ensured MAG passenger numbers increased by 9.1 per cent year-on-year to 35 million.
Charlie Cornish, MAG chief executive, said: “Our latest results demonstrate that MAG is a strong and resilient business that is confident in its future growth prospects, and one that through the significant investment it is making is demonstrating its commitment to meeting long term customer needs.
“Across the group, our commercial approach to engaging with airlines has enabled us to build extensive route networks that are proving very popular with passengers.
“This aviation growth, combined with our ongoing focus on passenger experience and non-aviation revenues, has resulted in us being able to deliver the 13th consecutive half-year of adjusted EBITDA growth.
“As we grow we are committing considerable investment to enhancing the look, feel and operation of our airports.
“In addition, the transformational projects at both Manchester and Stansted will deliver the larger terminal facilities needed for us to make better use of our spare runway capacity.”
Manchester Airport is seeing record numbers of passengers through its doors and during the six months to September saw more passenger growth than any other UK airport (up 9.2 per cent to 16.6 million).
The airport has also now begun its £1 billion transformation programme, the largest ever private investment in the north-west.
“We are proud of the economic benefits that our airports generate for their local regions and the contribution they make to UK PLC,” said Cornish.
“As the UK gets closer to leaving the EU, we urge government to do everything it can to secure the seamless connectivity to global markets that people enjoy today.
“As MAG continues to grow we will work with Government to ensure the policy framework is in place to support our continued success.
London Stansted Airport has seen passenger numbers in the first half of the year climb 9.8 per cent year-on-year to 14.6 million, with continued growth from Ryanair, Jet2.com establishing a new base at the airport, and a host of new carriers and routes to complement the already extensive European offering.
At East Midlands Airport, forecasts suggest that it will be a record breaking year for MAG’s cargo operation.
Some 3.2 million passengers flew to and from popular holiday destinations between April and September, a 3.2 per cent year-on-year increase.
In the last year, activity at MAG’s airports across the UK, at Manchester, London Stansted, East Midlands and Bournemouth contributed £7.1 billion of economic value for UK PLC and for the communities in which our airports operate – a 14.5 per cent increase on the previous year.
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