MAN reaches 25 and comes of age
At 18 a boy becomes a MAN according to law, but it’s open to question whether he can really shoulder that title and the responsibility which accompanies it. At 25 he surely must be held to account. And so our very own favourite MAN has reached 25 (million pax per annum), somewhat later than was predicted back in the heady years of the last century when a second terminal and a second runway were being developed, but there at last. And looking like it won’t stop here.
After around 20 years in the 15-25 Million pax p.a category MAN is promoted into another league, one could say a man’s league. For this league (the Airports Council International 25-40M pax p.a.) is inhabited almost entirely by airports which are some of, if not all of, these:
• A capital or principal city airport
• Funded at least in part by central Government
• A base for international services flown by the national flag carrier.
MAN is none of the above, it is:
• A provincial city airport in a capital-dominated country.
• Home to only one airline (Thomas Cook)
• Has only a token presence by the national flag carrier.
Yet can we really call MAN a ‘regional’ airport?
• 25M pax per annum
• Scheduled services to four Continents
• On the network of many of the world’s biggest airlines
• Draws connecting traffic from around the UK and Ireland
The only possible (and frangible) basis for calling MAN ‘regional’ is that it does not really serve the capital. That alone.
With the title comes the responsibility. MAN will now be judged alongside some of the world’s busiest and most glamourous airports which enjoy the patronage of their Governments and flag carriers. How will MAN look these in the eye? The journey has been little short of remarkable to date, the first 78 years. As MAN’s leaders contemplate the big investment and strategy decisions which will shape the airport for another generation, the next decade will be seminal.