INTERNATIONAL scheduled business traffic at Manchester Airport last month rose 14 per cent to 309,684 passengers.

It was due to increases on flights to India, Pakistan, Spain, France, the Czech Republic and Amsterdam.

The total number of passengers using the airport rose by nearly seven per cent to 851,791 compared to the same month last year.

Domestic passenger numbers jumped four per cent to 180,376, with strong performances recorded by the British Airways Express network. Charter traffic rose two per cent to 361,441 due to the increased demand for ski and long-haul winter sun holidays.

Cllr Graham Stringer, Chairman of Manchester Airport, said: "January's excellent growth in scheduled passengers is the start of growth which will make 1997 a record-breaking year.

"Already three out of every four planes using Manchester Airport are scheduled traffic." Chief Executive Geoff Muirhead said: "The airport has started the year on a high with the exceptional performance of international scheduled traffic. He said it illustrated the demand for connections to international city and capital destinations from the northern business community. "Increases in all sectors of our traffic re-emphasises the importance of having the second runway operational by the turn of the century," he said.

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