Revenue flies at London Stansted owner as it gears up for expansion
Stansted Airport owner the MAG group reported record half-year revenues as demand for travel at its key hubs took off over the summer.
Stansted Airport owner, the MAG group, today reported record half-year revenue as demand for travel took off at its key hubs over the summer.
Revenue between April and September came in at £705.6m, up from £565.2m year-on-year, following an exceptionally busy summer for the aviation sector.
Its airports, which include Manchester, East Midlands and Stansted, collectively handled 34.9m passengers over the period, up 4.4m on the prior year and representing just under 96 per cent of pre-pandemic levels.
London Stansted and Manchester drove the conglomerate’s strong performance. In July, the East-London airport became the first major UK hub to exceed pre-covid passenger volumes, while Manchester reached the milestone in October.
Overall, the UK’s largest group of airports reported adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation of £346.1m, up from £261m the prior year. Operating profit meanwhile rose to £218.2m, up from £22.8m, partly due to one-off changes incurred over the same period in 2023.
Ken O’Toole, the chief executive of Manchester Airports Group (MAG), said: “These interim results reflect a strong six months for MAG, during which all three of our airports saw a significant increase in passenger volumes at the same time as delivering a good service throughout the summer.
“Our positive start to the year leaves us well-placed to continue driving forward that agenda during the second half and beyond, while maintaining our focus on working with the government and our wider industry on the decarbonisation of aviation.”
In a statement, the company said the combination of a strong recovery of short-haul flights by low-cost airlines, coupled with the return of key long-haul services and the introduction of new carriers to its airports had driven performance.
London Stansted has undergone major expansion in recent years and it is looking to expand further after being granted permission to extend its terminal earlier this year. The airport’s plans to increase capacity to 43m – up from 35 million – were approved at the beginning of November.
