EMIRATES' PERFORMANCE AT MAN v BHX
An interesting article on Emirates’ performance at MAN that BHX will no doubt want to ponder on. It's appeared in today's Manchester Evening News:
Airline Emirates today said passenger and freight figures have soared since it brought its biggest jumbo jet to Manchester a year ago.
The carrier launched the A380 on its Dubai service 12 months ago and has since added a third daily flight.
That has led to passenger numbers increasing by 50 per cent, while the amount of cargo it has flown out of Manchester has grown by 40 per cent.
UK vice-president Laurie Berryman told the MEN that Emirates hopes to bring a second jumbo to Manchester within two years, as well as upgrading the A330 aircraft it uses on its 10am daily flight to a larger A777.
He said Emirates’ expansion has been driven by a combination of businesses seeking export opportunities to the east and holidaymakers eager to explore new, far-flung destinations, particularly at a time when the pound has been performing poorly against the euro.
Mr Berryman added: “This year has been extremely successful and has exceeded all our expectations. Going back to 12 months ago, we were concerned about adding the extra capacity and it was a bit of a step into the unknown.
“However, as has been the case with Manchester time and again, we have filled the extra capacity we put into the market.”
Mr Berryman added the amount of cargo the airline carried out of the north west increased across the year by 40 per cent, with Manchester comfortably outstripping Emirates’ other UK bases, like Birmingham and Newcastle.