East Midlands Airport nominated for top travel award
East Midlands Airport (EMA) is celebrating its nomination for Best UK Airport at the 2018 Travel Weekly’s Globe Travel Awards for the first time in six years.
Nominees are shortlisted by the number of votes they receive from travel agents across the UK, who also vote for the eventual winner.
With almost 5 million passengers flying to and from EMA each year, the airport has established itself as a hub for low fare airlines such as Jet2.com and Ryanair and tour operators like TUI Airways which serve over 80 domestic and European short-haul destinations as well as Cancun in Mexico and Orlando in the US. It is also a base for BMI Regional and Thomas Cook Airlines. It’s cargo operation is the UK’s second largest after Heathrow’s.
Heidi Barlow, EMA’s Head of Marketing, says: “We’re really excited about our nomination and I want to thank all those who voted for us. We hope our partners in the trade continue to provide their support and back us to win the award, which would be an amazing achievement when you consider who we’re in competition with. Being a smaller airport in terms of passenger numbers appeals to a lot of people because we’re seen as relatively hassle free and more personable, which we really pride ourselves on.”
The winner of the award will be announced at a ceremony on Thursday 11 January.
Further background information.
EMA is nominated for Best UK Airport alongside Birmingham, Bristol, Gatwick, Glasgow, Heathrow, Leeds Bradford, Liverpool John Lennon, Manchester and Newcastle.
Since 2012, EMA has invested £50m to improve infrastructure and passenger facilities. This included a new £15m runway last year, terminal improvements costing £16m in 2014 and other customer-facing areas, such as the expansion to security.
In the last year the airport has seen a 50 per cent drop in the number of complaints it received and its car parking is currently ranked 3rd highest in the UK for customer satisfaction, and 2nd highest in the UK for value for money.
EMA directly employs around 600 people but 7000 people work across the entire airport site with complementary businesses such as DHL, UPS, Royal Mail and FedEx as well as in hotels and other local businesses that benefit from being situated so close to the airport.
The airport plays an important role in the health of the region. On average, it contributes £440m a year to the East Midlands economy through inward investment, tourism and hospitality, export value, indirect and induced jobs.