Manchester Airport Reports a Record September as a £115 Million Rail Station Rebuild Nears

The airport-level figures published in the release are as follows.

• Manchester: 3,144,812 passengers in September, up 1.4%. The rolling 12-month total was 32,467,890, up 2.1%.
• London Stansted: 2,879,696 passengers in September, up 6.4%. The rolling 12-month total was 30,873,755, up 2.9%.
• East Midlands: 483,210 passengers in September, up 7.8%. The rolling 12-month total was 4,067,275, up 3.1%.

East Midlands had the largest percentage increase for the month within the group. Manchester grew the least of the three in September, although the airport described the result as a record for the month.

MAG also published cargo tonnage for September. Manchester handled 9,553 tonnes, up 21.6%. Stansted handled 23,055 tonnes, up 0.2%. East Midlands handled 36,016 tonnes, up 6.3%. East Midlands carried the most cargo of the three in the figures published.

The release also reported security queue times. At Manchester, 98% of passengers reached security within 15 minutes. The corresponding figures were 100% at Stansted and 99% at East Midlands.

The group release did not include route-level or airline-level detail, and it did not carry named quotations. Route information came instead from Manchester Airport's own release.

What Manchester says drove the month

Manchester Airport's release put the September total at more than 3.1 million passengers, 1.4% above September 2025, and called it a record for the month. It also said August was the airport's busiest month ever.

The airport attributed the strength of September to what it called shoulder-season demand. It said September passengers were mostly couples and solo travellers rather than families, and it pointed to holiday prices that it said are typically 20% to 40% lower than at the peak of summer, with weather in popular destinations often similar to August.

On routes, Mallorca was the most popular destination in September. Alicante, Antalya and Tenerife were also among the top ten, and the airport described the list as mostly Mediterranean. Orlando was the most popular long-haul route, with almost 25,000 passengers in the month. The release did not name the airlines operating those services, and it did not publish passenger totals for individual routes other than the Orlando figure.

Chris Woodroofe, the airport's managing director, said: "Seeing so many passengers passing through the UK's global gateway in the North during September has been really exciting." He added that Manchester's route network, which the airport describes as the strongest outside London, lets it offer value and choice into the shoulder season.

The release gave no year-to-date total for Manchester alone beyond the rolling 12-month figure in MAG's group table, and it gave no summer total, saying only that the summer was the airport's most successful to date.

Terminal 2 is now complete

The airport's release also confirmed that its £1.5 billion Terminal 2 is now fully open. It said the final retail outlet to open was the Belle Vue, described as the airport's first Wetherspoon pub, which opened a few weeks before the release. New Executive and Aspire lounges also opened during the summer, according to the airport.

The airport's security-wait statistics are measured and published by the operator rather than by an independent body.

The station upgrade

The second strand concerns how passengers reach the airport. Network Rail's programme page and two news reports published on 7 October set out a £115 million upgrade of Manchester Airport railway station, with Kier as principal contractor.

According to Network Rail, the work will extend platforms 1, 2 and 3, remodel the railway junction outside the station, upgrade the track layout on the approach and modernise the signalling system. The stated aim is for longer trains to be able to serve the station, for trains to move in and out more flexibly, and for reliability and capacity to improve in support of future passenger growth. The delivery window runs from the end of 2026 to mid-2028.

Network Rail's timeline lists the following milestones.

• Sunday 6 December 2026: the station closes to trains for one day so that engineers can begin work.
• 2027: several weekend closures to prepare for the main works.
• Start of 2028: about 10 weeks of upgrades.
• Mid-2028: programme completion.

Place North West and Railway-News both reported that the 6 December closure is the first major stage. Engineers will install a utility bridge across the railway to carry electrical cables. That in turn allows a bridge used by Manchester Airport Group to be removed at Easter 2027, with a replacement structure built later in 2027, according to both reports.

During closures, rail replacement buses will run between Wilmslow and the airport. Network Rail said the buses may take longer than the usual train journey, that additional customer-handling staff will be on hand during the day, and that passengers should check their journey, allow extra time and confirm onward flight arrangements. The airport itself stays open during the railway closures. Railway-News reported that Metrolink tram services are not affected.

Who is paying and who is involved

Both news reports attribute the funding to the government. Railway-News described the £115 million as government-funded, according to Rail Minister Lord Hendy, and Place North West reported that Lord Hendy called the airport a vital transport hub and linked the investment to Great British Railways and public ownership of track and trains. Simon Daly, Network Rail's senior sponsor, was reported as saying the improvements will add passenger capacity, allow longer trains and improve reliability for years to come, and that the 6 December closure is an important first step. He acknowledged the disruption it will cause.

Network Rail lists Manchester Airport Group, Transport for Greater Manchester, the Department for Transport, train operators and other transport partners among those involved.

Part of a wider rail upgrade

The station work sits inside the Manchester Rail Upgrade, formerly known as the Manchester North West Transformation Project, which covers stations, sidings and other schemes across Greater Manchester. Network Rail lists completed items including Wigan to Bolton electrification and platform extensions at Mauldeth Road, Gatley and East Didsbury. Work in progress includes a third platform at Salford Crescent and new turnback sidings at Oldfield Road and Brewery Junction.

A direct train from the Midlands

Manchester Airport's release also referred to rail services. It said London Northwestern Railway plans a direct train service from Birmingham and Stoke-on-Trent to the airport from next year. The release gave no further timetable detail, and the operator's own announcement was not among the sources reviewed for this report, so the exact start date and frequency are not confirmed here.

What the figures do and do not show

The September numbers describe a mixed picture inside MAG. Stansted and East Midlands grew considerably faster than Manchester in the month. Manchester's 1.4% gain is small, and the airport's rolling 12-month growth of 2.1% is below the 3.1% recorded at East Midlands and the 2.9% at Stansted. The group release did not offer an explanation of the differences between airports, and neither release identified which airlines contributed to the growth.

The cargo figure at Manchester, up 21.6%, is the largest percentage rise in the data, but the release did not give a cause or a comparison base beyond the year-earlier month.

All of the traffic and queue-time figures come from MAG and Manchester Airport. They have not been independently audited in the material reviewed, and no regulator or third-party data set was used to cross-check them. The rail works details, by contrast, were confirmed by Network Rail, which is the project owner, and reported by two separate outlets.

What happens next

The first practical effect for travellers will be on Sunday 6 December, when the station closes for the day and buses replace trains between Wilmslow and the airport. Further weekend closures are planned for 2027, followed by a block of about 10 weeks of upgrade work at the start of 2028. Network Rail says it will post confirmed service changes on its project page.

Sources

• Manchester Airports Group, "Passenger numbers continue grow across MAG following strong September performance", 12 October 2026 (mediacentre.magairports.com)
• Manchester Airport, "Super September as shoulder season sun-seekers drive record month for Manchester Airport", 12 October 2026 (mediacentre.manchesterairport.co.uk)
• Place North West, "December start for £115m Manchester Airport station upgrade", 7 October 2026
• Railway-News, "£115 million investment works to begin at Manchester Airport station", 7 October 2026
• Network Rail, Manchester Airport Station improvements project page (networkrail.co.uk)