Transatlantic lift

The owner of Stansted and Manchester airports said new routes to India and America’s West Coast helped boost passenger numbers by 6.7pc.

Manchester Airports Group, which also owns east Midlands Airport, said it had 58.9m customers in the year to March 31 thanks to more long-haul destinations being added. Its short-haul network also expanded. Profits rose 5.6pc over the period to about £359m. Sales rose 10.2pc to £818m.

east Midlands Airport, second to heathrow in the amount of cargo it handles, saw total tonnage rise 9.8pc to 358,477 tons.