East Midlands Airport welcomed 400,000 passengers in July
East Midlands Airport (EMA) made a strong start to its peak summer season following two years of pandemic disruption.
Last month (July) passenger volumes returned to 73% of pre-Covid levels as the regional gateway welcomed 400,000 customers through its terminal. This is a 472 per cent increase on July last year, when travel restrictions and wider uncertainty about international travel curtailed demand. This summer, an average of 15,000 passengers are using the airport each day compared to approximately 4,000 daily passengers in July 2021.
With two-to-three weeks remaining of the school summer holidays, EMA will welcome similar numbers of passengers in August. Monday 29th is likely to be the airport’s busiest day of the summer, with 17,000 passengers expected. Summer flight schedules continue until the end of October with airlines Ryanair, Jet2.com, TUI, Flybe, Blue Islands and Aurigny providing a choice of more than 50 destinations between them across much of Europe and North Africa.
Mainland Spain and the Spanish Islands continue to be the most popular destinations for travellers who choose EMA. The top 10 destinations passengers are flying to are:
- Palma de Mallorca
- Alicante (Spain)
- Faro (Portugal)
- Malaga (Spain)
- Tenerife (Spain)
- Lanzarote (Spain)
- Dublin (Rep. of Ireland)
- Barcelona (Spain)
- Dalaman (Turkey)
- Menorca (Spain)
In the months leading up to the peak summer season, the airport team, together with its airline partners, put plans in place to respond to increased passenger demand. Thanks to the progress made with recruitment, the addition of customer service ambassadors and student cadets, and the flexibility of colleagues to cover busy shifts, 99.25% of passengers continue to enjoy the convenience of clearing security within 15 minutes or less.
The airport is keen to stress that passengers should continue to listen to the advice of airlines and arrive at the terminal for check-in or bag drop at the time they suggest, not before, and not after.
Clare James, EMA’s Managing Director, said: “It’s been wonderful to see our terminal buzzing with excited holidaymakers again. This summer has marked the start of a proper recovery following aviation’s most difficult period in its history. We’re delighted with the strong performance to date, and we look forward to working with the airlines that serve this airport to build on this for the coming seasons.”
Figures released today also show that Manchester Airports Group, which owns Manchester, London Stansted, and East Midlands airports – saw 5.5 million passengers travel through its terminals in July, compared to 6.5 million in the same month last year. Passenger numbers across the Group are at 85% of pre-Covid levels.