£75m airport windfall for 10 town halls

GREATER Manchester’s 10 town halls have scooped nearly £75m thanks to Manchester Airport’s record profits – a welcome boost amid post-Brexit uncertainty.

Manchester Airports Group, which is partowned by the councils, has announced soaring profits.

And up 24 per cent on last year’s windfall, they are the biggest ever.

The boost comes as a new direct route to mainland China pushes passenger numbers to 24m for the first time.

Revenues to March 31 this year rose 5.5pc from £738.4m to £778.8m over the 12 months – while underlying pre-tax profits were up 12pc from £283.6m to £317.7m.

And it’s triggered a total 12-month £115.8m windfall for all MAG shareholders.

Of that, Manchester council will get £41m for the full year, with each of the other nine councils scooping £3.7m.

That’s compared to the last full year when the councils scored £60m in total – with Manchester town hall getting a £33m slice.

Local authority bosses have not yet announced what they will do with the extra cash, although it is expected the money will offset the effects of government cuts.

The remainder will go to Industry Funds Management, the Australian investor that bought into the group ahead of its swoop for Stansted Airport.

Ken O’Toole, managing director of Manchester Airport, said the council windfall was a ‘visible and transparent’ consequence of the hub’s success – which also provides 25,000 direct and 45,000 indirect jobs.

He added: “We’ve had lots of positive announcements in recent weeks – Virgin Atlantic to fly to San Francisco and Boston next summer, the fantastic start of Hainan Airlines to China – and we are very positive about the year head and the for the long term.”