East Midlands Airport anticipates a strong summer ahead
More than 94,000 passengers are expected through East Midlands Airport during the two weeks that schools across the region break up for February half-term.
It is the first opportunity in 2023 that many families have had to get escape the UK winter, whether in search of sunnier weather in southern Europe or snow-capped mountain resorts.
Popular destinations include the Canary Islands where daytime temperatures at this time of year are in the high teens, while the winter sports market to Austria, France Switzerland and Bulgaria is catered for with flights to Salzburg, Chambery, Geneva and Sofia (Bulgaria).
Passengers using the airport this half-term will start to see changes to the layout of the food and drink outlets in the departure lounge. During the quieter weeks since Christmas, work began on refreshing Burger King while Pork and Pickle, Starbucks and Frankie and Benny’s are also undergoing a facelift ahead of the busier season which starts at Easter. This means extra seating for passengers as well as a more pleasant environment in which to relax before flights.
February half-term also provides a good opportunity for new recruits to experience a mini peak in passenger numbers. Following the airport’s recruitment drive, some new starters are already in post across the airport’s security, car parking and assisted travel teams. Recruitment is still ongoing ahead of the peak summer season, but good progress has been made to date. However, jobs are still available and anyone interested in finding out more should visit the careers pages on EMA’s website.
Airport bosses are optimistic that 2023 will be the year in which passenger numbers grow back to closer what they were pre-pandemic. Figures released today show that EMA welcomed 3,267,290 passengers throughout the last 12 months (January 2022 – January 2023). This marked the airport’s first year of restriction-free operation since pre-Covid. But as the airlines that operate out of EMA respond to the increased demand by putting on more flights and increase the number of seats on sale, passenger numbers are expected to grow strongly this year.
Steve Griffiths, EMA’s Managing Director, said: “We’re delighted to welcome passengers to the airport this half-term, many of whom will be heading off somewhere exciting for a much-needed break. Although not yet our peak summer season, the next couple of weeks are a good indicator of passenger demand later in the year and it’s a good test of our readiness for what will be a fantastic summer for us and for our customers. We’re working flat out to ensure the experience for everyone who uses EMA is the best it can be this year.”