More than 1m passengers during holiday peak at East Midlands Airport marks another successful summer
August saw just over 552,000 people fly through East Midlands Airport for their holidays – almost 20,000 more than last year.
The 4% increase contributed to another successful summer season at the airport – with a total of 1.08m passengers across the two peak months of July and August. Altogether that’s the equivalent of around 180 more planes full of passengers compared to last year.
People are attracted to East Midlands Airport for the easy start to their holidays that it provides and its choice of 70 popular destinations, served by low-cost airlines Ryanair, Jet2 and TUI. Some new destinations this summer included Agadir, Costa de Almeria, Preveza, Thessaloniki, Chania, Pula, Split and Sharm el Sheikh. Loganair also launched a new daily service to Jersey.
This winter Jet2 has added Gdansk to its Christmas market destinations, along with Berlin, Budapest, Krakow, Prague and Vienna, while next summer it is adding Paris, along with Tunisia, Hurghada and Sharm el Sheik, to its network from East Midlands.
As well as new destinations to choose from, customers also benefit from a quick security process – under 15 minutes for 99.7% of people – and a range of new and improved facilities in the Departure Lounge. These includes new shops, restaurants and bars – including an expanded and refurbished Escape Lounge - upgraded toilets and wi-fi, extra seating and new kids play area, along with a quiet room and sensory pod as part of the airport’s award-winning assisted travel service.
The airport’s Meet & Greet parking service also now comes with a self-serve option to beat the queues by making depositing and retrieving car keys quick and simple.
East Midlands Airport’s Managing Director Steve Griffiths said: “We have enjoyed another bumper summer bigger than the last, with our teams devoted as ever to ensuring people can enjoy getting away on holiday safely and easily.
“Feedback from customers shows high levels of satisfaction, which we hope has been helped by the significant investment we’ve carried out to a wide range of facilities to improve the customer experience.
“While the winter season ahead is quieter, that makes East Midlands an even more effortless option for anyone wanting to catch some winter sun, head to the ski slopes or take a trip to the many wonderful Christmas Markets on the continent.”