Online shopping drives East Midlands Airport to new milestone

East Midlands Airport

East Midlands Airport (EMA) has reported a “strong” first half to the summer season with passenger numbers matching last year’s and cargo hitting a 1,000 tonnes a day milestone.

In the first four months of the summer season (the eight-month season runs from April to October) 1,481,300 passengers flew to and from EMA, 200 more than at this stage in 2017.

Even though the Airport’s passenger traffic declined slightly in July (-2.1%), routes to Turkey and the Eastern Mediterranean proved especially popular, including Corfu, Dalaman, Antalya, Rhodes and Dubrovnik, all of which posted growth, alongside the new route for this summer to Seville.

Passengers have even more choice in August with the launch of a weekly Jet2.com flight to Bodrum in Turkey which continues until September.

The top ten destinations which travellers flew to from EMA in July were:

1. Palma
2. Alicante
3. Malaga
4. Faro
5. Tenerife
6. Dublin
7. Ibiza
8. Lanzarote
9. Mahon
10. Belfast City

After an increase in cargo volume in July, the airport now handles over 1,000 tonnes a day. Recent growth can be attributed, in part, to people’s increased appetite for online shopping and e-commerce. Goods such as clothes, mobile phones, footwear, beauty products, fashion accessories, toys and video games come through the airport in addition to higher value heavier cargo.

Karen Smart, East Midlands Airport’s managing director, said: “We’ve made an encouraging start to the summer season. Our focus now is on maintaining this through to October. As we approach a period of cooler weather in the UK, holiday makers might wish to consider late deals, of which there are many, particularly to Eastern Mediterranean destinations such as Bulgaria and Turkey, where the heat is not as excessive as in parts of Southern Europe.

“Our cargo performance continues to impress and it demonstrates our importance as a vital piece of UK infrastructure. We provide a valuable service to leisure and business passengers across the region and, through our significant cargo operation, are responsible for fuelling the national economy.”

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