Manchester Airports Group (MAG) said its revenue increased 8.3% to £508.5 million and EBITDA rose 3.7% to £244.5 million in the six months to September 30.

The group said it passed the milestone of handling 60 million passengers per annum across its three airports.

MAG owns and operates Manchester, London Stansted and East Midlands airports and is privately managed on behalf of its shareholders — Australian investment fund IFM Investors (35.5%), Manchester City Council (35.5%) and nine other Greater Manchester councils (29%).

“Increased revenues have been driven by both aviation and non-aviation income,” said MAG.

“On the aviation side, additional capacity and higher load factors have led to 4.9% revenue growth.

“Meanwhile non-aviation revenues were boosted by retail growth at 7.6%, following continued investment across the airports in food and beverage, retail and car-parking facilities …

“Property income across MAG has increased 5.6% to £24.4m, driven by additional letting activity across each site, including newly refurbished office space at Manchester, a new cargo facility at East Midlands and new lettings at Stansted.

“Occupancy levels have grown to 94.7%.

“In September, online beauty and wellbeing business The Hut Group (THG) announced plans to develop 1m sq ft of office space at Airport City Manchester.”

MAG’s CEO Charlie Cornish said: “Our airports are nationally significant assets with the ability to deliver the aviation capacity the UK needs in the coming decade, and their continued growth is being supported by significant investment by MAG.

“I am delighted to report that the first elements of our new terminal investments will be opening on time at Manchester Airport early next year.

“The new facilities in Terminal 2, part of our £1bn investment in transforming the airport, will not only offer significant additional terminal capacity to allow us to grow further, but will also offer a first class passenger experience.

“As plans for east-west rail connectivity in the North reach a critical milestone, we continue to make the case for the Government’s forthcoming aviation strategy to focus on connecting passengers to the airports up and down the country quicker and more easily.

“Northern Powerhouse Rail will not just bring the cities of the North closer together, it will also join them all, via Manchester Airport, to a range of global cities unrivalled in the North.

“A real focus this year has been on securing brand new long haul routes from our airports.

“To this end, the launch of new daily Emirates flights from London Stansted to Dubai on a three-class Boeing 777 was a magnificent moment for both the airport and the wider region.

“We know that the service is already appreciated by businesses from the London-Cambridge corridor who are now using Stansted to travel east, as well as by leisure passengers from London and across East Anglia.

“Similarly at Manchester, we were able to announce new routes to Mumbai and Addis Ababa, the first links between the North and the economic heart of India, and sub-Saharan Africa.

“These are the kind of links that will form the backbone of the country’s new trading links when Britain leaves the European Union next year, and at MAG we stand ready to connect all parts of the UK to key long haul markets.

“At East Midlands Airport, we now facilitate more than £10bn worth of non-EU trade each year.

“As the UK prepares to leave the European Union, we have always been clear that the best result for the aviation industry would be a deal which preserves the liberal flying freedoms and competitive approach to the aviation market that have driven so much important connectivity and economic growth across the continent over the last couple of decades.

“However, we have also welcomed the publication of technical notices from both the UK and the EU which have set out a clear and positive commitment to allowing airlines continued access between the UK and the EU, even in a no deal scenario.

“The recent signing of an aviation agreement between the UK and the US is further positive news for passengers.”