The owner of Manchester and London Stansted airports has revealed a sharp pull-back in passenger growth amid pressure on air travel over the Iran war.
Manchester Airport Group (MAG), which also owns East Midlands Airport, reported passenger growth of 1.9% to 66.3 million for the year to March 31 – down from growth of 6% in the previous year.
Manchester Airport saw the most robust growth in the number of passengers travelling through its terminals, at 3.6% to 32.3 million, but this was down significantly on the 8% growth in 2024-25.
London Stansted saw passenger numbers increase by just 0.4%, down from a rise of 4.9% the previous year, while East Midlands saw a 1.3% decline.
But figures showed pre-tax profits for the parent group rose 4.5% to £227.4 million in the year to the end of March as revenues lifted 12.8%.
The group said: “Despite heightened geopolitical and economic uncertainty, Manchester Airport Group has demonstrated resilience and momentum, delivering strong results while continuing to invest for long-term growth and value creation for its stakeholders.
“The passenger growth Manchester Airport Group has seen, much like the overall resilience of the sector, reflects the fundamental desire people have to travel and the resulting growth it creates for individuals, businesses, regions and nations.”
It comes as the wider sector has faced pressures from the Iran-US conflict.
West London’s Heathrow Airport said last month it expects its passenger numbers to decline by 1.1% this year because of the war.
It is forecasting between 80.1 million and 84.5 million passengers will pass through its four terminals this year, with a “base case” of 83.6 million, compared with 84.5 million in 2025.
Heathrow said its forecast for 2026 “reflects the risk that continued volatility in the Middle East could dampen broader traffic volumes, with impacts extending beyond the region to global travel demand over the remainder of the year”.
An interim peace deal was signed by Iran and the US late last month.
Despite the drop in passenger growth, MAG said it notched up new records for Manchester and London Stansted, with the latter having “broken into the ’30 million club’.
“The scale of the airport’s operations is now likened to those of La Guardia in New York and Melbourne in Australia,” MAG said.