In 2025 Liverpool John Lennon Airport handled more passengers than any other year in its history and is set for another record-breaking year in 2026 despite the challenges of jet fuel shortages. Tony McDonough reports
Liverpool John Lennon Airport (LJLA) is set for another record-breaking year in terms of passenger numbers despite the disruption to jet fuel supplies caused by conflict in the Middle East.
LJLA’s head of PR Robin Tudor has told Liverpool City Region Combined Authority that 2025’s figure of 5.6m passengers – 10% higher than 2024 – is likely to be exceeded in 2026 based on current passenger numbers.
“Building on this success was our aim at the start of 2026,” said Robin. “However predicting the future is always a challenge for the aviation industry and none more so than this year, with the events in the Middle East having an almost immediate knock-on effect on our business.
“Airlines cut back on flights to the Middle East and initial concerns over aviation fuel availability and the longer-term impact on fuel costs, all undermined consumer confidence.
“While here at LJLA we don’t have long haul flights to the Middle East, we have seen flights to eastern Mediterranean destinations reduced and some early summer season reductions in capacity impacting on our business as it has at just about all UK airports.
“However, despite the ongoing geopolitical and economic situation and the good weather across the UK, the summer season has stood up well in terms of passenger numbers for us.
“And, while not at levels we had forecast at the beginning of the year, more passengers are still choosing to fly from Liverpool year on year, continuing our successful recovery from the devastation caused by the COVID pandemic.”
Through the year LJLA has continued to see its airlines, in particular easyJet and Ryanair, keep adding to the number of routes. And both carriers have based extra aircraft at Liverpool in the last few months.
Robin added: “Both of our leading airline partners easyJet and Ryanair have recently increased their commitment to Liverpool, with each having invested in an additional based aircraft, taking easyJet’s based fleet to nine and Ryanair’s to six.
“We’ve seen new destinations including Lisbon, Naples, Seville, Marrakesh, Tirana and Warsaw all introduced with more to follow in the coming winter season, to Budapest, Copenhagen, Reykjavik and Kittila.
“With Jet2 now having 5 aircraft based here too, there are now 20 aircraft based at Liverpool – more than we’ve ever had before. Basing aircraft here is a major investment and commitment by these airlines.”
LJLA has also recently completed a multi-million pound redevelopment of all food and beverage units and saw the opening of a new premium lounge with three times the space and room for over 200 guests – double that of the previous facility.
In 2025 LBN revealed the airport contributes an estimated £340m a year in GVA and supports 5,200 jobs across Liverpool city region. In early August we also reported the airport was to launch an aggressive push to attract more travellers to its North American hub route with Aer Lingus via Dublin.
“While Manchester is often perceived as the North West’s gateway airport, in reality both Liverpool and Manchester serve similar markets. Eight out of the top 10 routes served from Manchester are already served from Liverpool,” Robin Also said.
“Business at both airports is dominated by the low-cost leisure market, with Ryanair, easyJet, Jet2 and TUI making up two thirds of Manchester’s traffic. Which is why we believe considerable opportunities exist for LJLA going forward.”