MAG owned airports in the UK saw continued growth in both passenger numbers and cargo tonnes flown in July.

Manchester Airport, the only airport in the UK with two runways apart from London Heathrow, grew 7.4 per cent year on year to handle more than three million passengers in July.

It has now seen a record 27 million people pass through its three terminals in the last 12 months.

In response, MAG has welcomed the secretary of state Chris Grayling to see work start on its £1 billion transformation programme.

The upgrade is designed to allow it to make serve more passengers in its terminals and make fuller use of its current runway capacity.

London Stansted Airport was equally busy, welcoming over 2.5 million passengers to the airport during July this year, up 10.5 per cent over the same month in 2016.

Stansted has recently confirmed its attention to apply to lift its current ‘passenger cap’ from 35 million passengers per year to 44 million, allowing airlines to plan their future growth at London’s third airport.

It is also about to commence the first stage of works to transform the current terminal building into a dedicated departures building, in advance of a new arrivals building being built next door.

The initial work will involve the creation of new check in space and seating areas in the terminal.

Karen Smart, asset management director, London Stansted, said: “The airport has never been busier, so to help us keep pace with increased demand and improve the passenger experience, we have started a significant investment programme to deliver a wide range of projects over the next five years to transform the airport and support sustainable growth on our single runway.

“The centrepiece of this investment plan is the new £130 million arrivals building which was granted planning permission in April this year and will help transform our facilities to give our passengers the best possible experience.

“In addition, we will shortly begin a number of projects totalling £50 million to provide additional check-in capacity and add more seating in the departure lounge as well as increasing the number of aircraft parking stands on the airfield.

“This work will help improve customer service and add vital capacity during the period in advance of the new arrivals building becoming operational and the subsequent full transformation of existing terminal.”

East Midlands Airport grew by 3.1 per cent to serve 588,000 passengers in July and Bournemouth Airport grew 1.2 per cent to 81,000.