Flying High in 2025: Manchester Airport Celebrates Major Milestones
With over 5 million passengers passing through its gates over the summer, we highlight some other major milestones achieved this year by the UK’s global gateway in the North
Launch of flights between Manchester and Mumbai with IndiGo
India’s biggest airline, IndiGo, is now offering direct flights
from Manchester to Mumbai three times a week, making it even easier for passengers to visit friends and family, enjoy sightseeing, meet business connections, or even watch test match cricket.
The first direct flight - operating on a Boeing 787 Dreamliner - landed in Manchester on 1st July 2025 and flights have been operating every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday since. With business class seats available to passengers from £870 per return journey, now is as good a time as any to take in Mumbai’s iconic sights, shop in the bustling markets and bazaars and enjoy the city’s thriving street food scene.
Manchester Airport managing director Chris Woodroofe said:
“This route makes us the only Northern airport with a direct connection to India and cements our position as one of Europe’s best-connected airports.”
Launch of daily
Ethiopian Airlines flights from Manchester
Africa’s largest airline, Ethiopian Airlines, has gone daily with flights from Manchester to Addis Ababa, opening up travel to Africa from the North.
This new daily schedule, which increased from five flights
per week, offers extra travel options and enhanced seamless connectivity for passengers across Africa. These include connections to the leading Indian Ocean destinations of Zanzibar, Mombasa and the Seychelles, plus amazing Safari destinations
like Nairobi, Kilimanjaro, Dar es Salaam, Maun, Harare, Victoria Falls, Johannesburg and Lusaka.
The news will be welcomed by more than 35,000 passengers
who travel from Manchester to destinations across Africa with
Ethiopian Airlines every year. In 2024, more than 5,000 passengers flew from Manchester to Zimbabwe, 4,000 flew to South Africa and 3,000 flew to Kenya – all via a connection in Addis Ababa
with Ethiopian Airlines.
One-Year Anniversary Celebrations
Juneyao Air celebrated the first anniversary of its Manchester to Shanghai route in July 2025, as the first direct service connecting the North of England with China's financial hub. The route operates three times a week using a Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft and provides a vital link for the Chinese community in the North of England to visit friends, family and business contacts in Shanghai.
Royal Air Maroc also celebrated one year of flying from Manchester
to Casablanca, having launched back in June 2024. With plans to increase to 5 weekly flights this winter, exploring this vibrant Moroccan city is easier than ever and will allow northern travellers the opportunity to enjoy the modern shopping malls that sit alongside
the awe-inspiring mosques and ancient markets.
Terminal 2 Transformation
Terminal 2 passengers have enjoyed a range of new features, including new check-in desks, a new security hall and new scanners plus new shops and hospitality offerings in its £1.3bn transformation.
The new stores now open include firm favourites such as Starbucks, Upper Crust and World Duty Free Express alongside new brands that include Rituals, Joe & the Juice, Pandora and LEGO®. The next phase of T2’s transformation is set to welcome the Great Northern Market, Grindsmith coffee shop, Wetherspoon, FeverTree cocktail and champagne bar and The Avenue, a boutique shopping mall with
lots of exciting brands.
Manchester Airport Customer Services Director Jennifer
Byrne-Smith said:
“We’ve invested more than £1.3bn in transforming Manchester Airport over the last ten years – and that programme is almost complete. Passengers this year will really notice all the benefits of it, especially
if they’re travelling from our new, state-of-the-art Terminal 2."
On The Horizon
Coming this November, Emirates will celebrate 35 glorious years of flying from Manchester to Dubai. Passengers looking to enhance their next flight to the city
that boasts the world’s first seven-star hotel can opt to upgrade to Emirates' new Premium Economy cabin. Here, travellers can enjoy more space, with cream leather seats with extra room to stretch, as well as adjustable headrests and a deeper recline. The Premium Economy seats also offer an elevated dining experience, with a choice of dishes from regional monthly menus generously served on Royal Doulton china tableware. Coupled with upgraded entertainment that includes thousands of movies, TV shows, albums and high-speed Wi-Fi, it offers travellers the perfect way to start and
end their getaway.
Also coming soon, Manchester Airport will become the first UK airport outside London to offer direct flights to Bangkok in Thailand. The UK’s global gateway in the North will work with Norse Atlantic Airways to deliver a weekly service to the world’s most visited city, starting in November. The long-haul flight will be available in both economy and premium economy aboard a modern fleet of Boeing 797-9 Dreamliners.
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