Manchester Airport Group Investments Limited (MAGIL) said its revenue rose 20.5% to £1.237 billion in the 12 months to March 31, 2024, which resulted in an adjusted EBITDA of £506.7 million, an increase of £96.3 million (23.5%). 

MAGIL delivered an operating profit of £240.8 million for the year.

Last years’ result was heavily impacted by a one-off adjusted item charge of £119.7 million following the extinguishment of the group’s deferred debt agreement (DDA) for the exit from the Greater Manchester Pension Fund (GMPF) pension scheme.

All of Manchester Airport Group’s defined benefit pension schemes are now closed to future accrual.

Passenger numbers for the year were 61.3 million, an increase of 13.5% compared to the 54 million passengers in the previous year. This equated to 102.8% of pre-pandemic levels.

Manchester Airport Group owns and operates Manchester, London Stansted and East Midlands Airports and is owned by a combination of public and private shareholders, including Manchester City Council (35.5%), IFM Global Infrastructure Fund (35.5%) and the nine other Greater Manchester local authorities (29%).

A £10 million special dividend was paid by Manchester Airports Holdings Limited (MAHL) on March 28, 2024, “in respect of the outperformance of its FY24 Business Plan.” Dividends paid by MAHL are funded via Distributions from MAGIL.

Manchester Airport saw a further increase in passenger numbers, serving 28.8 million people in FY24, equivalent to 102.1% of FY20 levels and up 14.3% on last year. In October 2023, the airport exceeded volumes seen in the same month in 2019, surpassing pre-pandemic volumes for the first time, and for the remainder of the year has seen record passenger numbers pass through its terminals.

London Stansted saw its passenger demand increase in FY24, serving 28.5 million people, equivalent to 105.9% of FY20 and up 11.8% on last year. The strength of the airport’s traffic saw it become the first major UK airport to reach pre-pandemic passenger volumes in July 2023, and it has since delivered several record breaking months, welcoming more passengers than ever before.

East Midlands Airport served 4 million passengers in FY24, equivalent to 88.9% of FY20 levels and up 21.2% on FY23. East Midlands Airport is the UK’s leading airport for dedicated cargo operations, flying more tonnes by pure freight aircraft than any other in the country.

Manchester Airports Group plans to invest more than £2 billion across its three airports over the next five years.