Airports group figures reveal impact of coronavirus pandemic
The impact of the pandemic on Manchester Airports Group has been revealed in half year figures released today.
Manchester Airport Group Investments Limited (MAGIL) has published figures for the six months to September 30.
They revealed revenues, covering the three operations at Manchester, East Midlands and London Stansted, are down by 81.1% from £540.6m to £102.4m.
Results before tax were a loss of £208.3m compared with a profit of £186.7m, a fall of 211.6%.
Passenger numbers have also been badly affected after the world’s airlines grounded their fleets as countries closed their borders to limit the spread of coronavirus.
Manchester handled 1.7 million passengers in the six month period, down from 17.4m the previous year. London Stansted handled 2.2 million compared with 15.9 million last year, and East Midlands handled 300,000, against 3.1 million in 2019.
Total passenger numbers have fallen from 36.4 million to 4.2 million.
MAGIL said its response to the pandemic has been measured, strong and focused on long-term recovery.
All non-essential expenditure was frozen, all colleagues took a 10% pay cut from April 2020, and the size of its management team has been streamlined resulting in 25% fewer leaders and back office roles.
Shareholders have been supportive, providing £300m of new equity, which together with £340m raised through the sale of MAGIL’s non-core property portfolio, contributed to a cash position of £624.6m at September 30.
In addition, banks and listed bondholders strongly endorsed MAGIL’s financial and strategic response by agreeing to waive financial covenant tests at September 2020 and March 2021, and an amendment to September 2021.
MAGIL said it has led industry efforts to influence Government policy so that the aviation industry can fly more people in the short term and recover strongly in the medium-to-long term.
It has helped the Government to introduce international travel corridors and then refine their application to consider islands separately from the mainland.
Manchester Airports Group (MAG) has called consistently for a testing regime that would allow arrivals from higher risk destinations to quarantine for a shorter period of time.
In late November, the Government confirmed that, from December 15, it would introduce a ‘Test to Release’ system.
Importantly, the Government has also set out its ambition to keep refining the system and introducing faster and cheaper tests when it is safe to do so.
MAG has launched testing centres at all of its airports to allow customers to book any tests they need when arriving in the UK and for those looking to travel to other countries with pre-departure testing requirements.
MAGIL said it has also focused on the Brexit process: “We have put in place robust plans and arrangements to prepare the business for 1 January 2021, whatever the result of ongoing negotiations with Brussels.
“We have been trialling operational processes and ensuring they align with new post-Brexit rules and regulations – both in our terminals and around our cargo processing facilities. We are confident that operational disruption will be minimal.”
