A total of 1.3 million passengers travelled through Manchester Airport in December 2013, which was 5.4 per cent higher than the figure recorded in 2012.

The escalation in passenger figures marks the airport’s 19 consecutive month of year on year growth, with performance attributed to the busy Christmas period where the airport saw over 720,000 festive travellers arrive and depart, a rise of 1.2 per cent, as well as having over 153,000 extra seats available to popular destinations compared with the previous winter season.

December brought a range of increased services including the inaugural flight of Thomas Cook’s new long haul route to Antigua, alongside the delivery of a brand new Airbus A321 in their new livery, which will be used on the new Barbados-St Lucia- Antigua service.

Ken O’Toole, chief commercial officer, MAG, owners of Manchester Airport, said: “December is traditionally a busy month for us, particularly the last two weeks with people travelling to be with friends and family during the festive season. 

“Last year was an encouraging year with many big milestones being reached including our successful acquisition of London Stansted Airport, Manchester’s 75th anniversary, having our busiest summer in five years and passing the 20 million passenger mark.

“Looking ahead at 2014 I’m confident that the good performance will continue with numerous airlines already announcing extra frequencies and expansion plans which will come online in the near future.”

At Manchester, summer 2014 will bring new long haul route launches from US Airways with a departure to their hub in Charlotte, North Carolina, USA giving passengers wider access across their large American network.

While Air Canada Rouge, a new carrier for Manchester, will begin operating five flights per week to Toronto, which will plug passengers into their global network and onward connections to destinations across Canada including Montreal and Ottawa. 

In March the airport will also see the return of Saudia Airlines with a direct route to Jeddah, further increasing Manchester’s coverage to the Middle East and beyond.