Almost 231,000 passengers flew to and from East Midlands Airport in December, that’s 5000 more than in the previous year. 120,000 of those flew during the peak Christmas and New Year get-away period.
As well as ending a busy year for EMA, December saw the conclusion of a five period of consistent growth in passenger numbers for EMA. Since 2013, passenger numbers have increased by 12.7%. During that time, the airport has also hit new milestones for cargo. It now facilitates over £10bn worth of non-EU trade a year and handles 1000 tonnes of goods a day making its dedicated freighter aircraft operation the largest of any UK airport.
The New Year is often when people start looking ahead to their holidays this year. And the short, gloomy days provide the perfect catalyst for thinking about sunnier climes. While winter sunshine resorts such as the Canary Islands and those in Southern Spain continue to top the list of destinations for EMA passengers between now and April, over the coming weeks the airport will be popular with winter sports enthusiasts flying to Geneva, Salzburg and Chambery for their Alpine fix.
EMA passengers looking ahead to the spring and summer (the official summer season kicks off on 1 April), will have more destinations to choose from thanks to new routes and the welcome return of flights to some former favourites. Greek Island Santorini (TUI) and Shannon in the Republic of Ireland (Ryanair) are new additions to the 80 plus destinations available to EMA passengers. After a gap of nearly five years, Flights to Tunisia return with TUI to Enfidha Hammanet. And, in response to the national increase in demand for travel to Eastern European resorts, Jet2.com have added Bourgas in Bulgaria to its list of routes from EMA this summer.