UK. Manchester Airports Group (MAG) – which owns and operates Manchester, London Stansted and East Midlands airports – served 20.5 million passengers in the 12 months to 31 March. This was up +225% year-on-year and represented 33% of 2019/20 levels.
Announcing its annual results today, the company forecast a bumper peak Summer season. Passenger volumes are set to reach levels “close to those seen in 2019, leading to a fuller recovery over the course of 2022/23” said MAG.
Compared to last year, revenue and results from operations in 2021/22 were up +159% and +64% respectively. Taking a two-year view, revenues were down by -80% in 2020/21 and -48% in 2021/22 compared to 2018/19.
In the latest financial year, retail income reached £81.2 million, more than four times previous year figures but well behind the £200 million in FY2020.
EBITDA improved from a £149.4 million loss in FY21 to £125.6 million profit in the year to March 2022. This compares to EBITDA of £382.1 million in the equivalent period in 2020, pre-pandemic.
With passenger numbers for the year still much lower than before the pandemic, and fixed costs for airport operations remaining high, MAG recorded an overall loss for 2021/22 of £320 million. MAG’s combined losses for the last two years stand at £694 million.
MAG CEO Charlie Cornish said: “With travel restrictions in place for nearly all of the last 12 months, it was another uncertain and unpredictable year for MAG and the wider aviation industry.
“After tentative steps towards recovery last autumn, the emergence of the Omicron variant once again resulted in major barriers for people looking to travel internationally.
“MAG played an industry-leading role in highlighting the ineffectiveness of international travel testing, which helped pave the way for the removal of travel restrictions in spring this year.
“The pace of recovery has brought its own challenges, and recruitment has taken longer and been more difficult than we anticipated. We’ve now recruited more than 1,500 new staff across MAG since January so that we can give passengers the best possible experience this summer.
“With passenger levels across MAG growing quickly back towards what they were before the pandemic, I am confident in the strength of our business and the contribution our airports will once again make for their regions and the whole UK economy.”
The partial easing of testing requirements for fully vaccinated travellers last autumn saw MAG’s passenger numbers reach 58% of pre-pandemic levels in November 2021, but the emergence of the Omicron variant meant that this fell back by around 30% month-on-month in December.
The UK Government removed the remaining restrictions on international travel in early Spring 2022.
MAG saw passenger numbers increase significantly in the final quarter of the year, from 37% of pre-pandemic levels in January to 70% by March, and 82% by May.
MAG noted: “The scale and pace of this recovery has presented significant challenges to airports and airlines throughout the country, with operators across the sector facing staff shortages, and lengthy recruitment processes making it difficult to keep up with the demand for travel.
“MAG has been working hard for several months to bring its operations back to full strength as passenger levels return to those seen before COVID-19. Since January, more than 1,500 new colleagues have taken up roles across all three airports, alongside hundreds of new staff at airlines, ground handlers and retailers operating at the Group’s airports.
“As new recruits have joined MAG’s airports, waiting times at security have improved. For example, at Manchester Airport more than 92% of passengers in June waited less than 30 minutes to pass through security.”
The return of key global markets has played a key role in driving the recovery. At Manchester Airport, the resumption of services to the US in November 2021 helped to restore a series of direct long-haul connections, with services to New York, Atlanta and Orlando returning, alongside routes to the Middle East, Africa, Asia and the Caribbean.
MAG this week announced the launch of its new digital branch, CAVU. Formed from the union of MAGO and MAG US, CAVU will act as a travel services provider and digital agency for MAG and other aviation businesses to develop tech solutions to enhance their offering to passengers.
