Airport News
Manchester Airport 'to double in size'
Fri, 12 Mar, 2010
Manchester Airport will double in size over the next 40 years to become as busy as present-day Heathrow.
This is the suggestion of an official government forecast, featured in a Committee on Climate Change report, which indicated that 449,000 flights will take off from and land at the hub in 2050 - more than twice the figure of 213,000 recorded in 2005.
Such an increase - the quickest of any of the four biggest airports - would see Manchester overtake Gatwick as the second largest carrier in the UK.
However, it would still lag behind London's Heathrow, which is expected to reach a total of 700,000 flights over the same time period.
The figures were published as Monarch Airlines announced it is to run a new route to the Greek island of Santorini from Manchester Airport this summer.
It is also going to offer flights to the destination from Gatwick.