So in total that's maybe 54,000 flights by fans over and above last season allowing for departures and arrivals.
Gavin, I suspect that's a significant over-estimate.
Firstly, United had only played 5 games up to the end of October. The 4th match in the group stages was last week in November.
Secondly, not all United fans would fly out of MAN. The fan base is widely spread!
Thirdly, not all away fans would fly into MAN. They may find cheaper fares to another airport and travel on by train.
Fourthly, depending on the location of the opponents, not all fans would necessarily fly.
The number of additional charter flights for matches so far has been relatively
small, although I accept some supporters will use normal scheduled flights.
I've no doubt United and away fans made a useful difference to the Sep & Oct pax figures but not as decisive as being claimed. In any case, with an increase of less than 4% in October, I would like to think new and existing services were the main contributors. The additional pax in October were 73,000 or 78,000 depending on whether the figure stated was comparing total or terminal pax. If 27,000 of it was due to extra football traffic, the underlying growth would be rather disappointing compared to earlier months.