December traffic
December's traffic figures across the UK have to be treated with caution owing to the huge disruption caused by weather. Underlying trends may be masked by these distortions, at Heathrow for instance. In the case of Manchester - which got off fairly lightly - the figure of +2% probably underestimates the underlying growth. MAN gained a few extra flights from LHR in December but lost many of its own due to destination airports being closed or disrupted. Underlying growth at MAN is now stabilising and I wouldn't be surprised if we see +4 or even +5% for January.