Stansted’s owner MAG posts £320m loss due to travel restrictions
Stansted Airport’s owner MAG has posted an annual loss of £320m due to a pandemic-induced slump in passenger numbers.
MAG has posted a combined loss of £694m for the last two years.
The group – which also owns Manchester and East Midlands airports – reported today that 20.5 million passengers passed through its hubs’ gates in the year ended 31 March, one third below pre-pandemic levels.
“With travel restrictions in place for nearly all of the last 12 months, it was another uncertain and unpredictable year for MAG and the wider aviation industry,” said chief executive Charlie Cornish.
The chief executive added that, following the end of all Covid restrictions, the airports’ recovery was moving faster compared with that of rivals.
Stansted, reports said, bounced back to 80 per cent of pre-pandemic levels by March, posting an EBITDA of £51.7m.
MAG was not exempt from the ongoing travel chaos, as some of the worst disruption during the Easter and Jubilee Bank Holidays was experienced at Manchester airport.
The chief executive said that while the recovery of passenger demand had “brought its own challenges,” the group remained confident.
“With passenger levels across MAG growing quickly back towards what they were before the pandemic, I am confident in the strength of our business and the contribution our airports will once again make for their regions and the whole UK economy,” he said.
Despite longer and more difficult recruitment processes, since January 1,500 have joined MAG at its three airports.