LJLA saw an extra 125,000 people pass through during the year and also finished 13th in a global league table for scheduled flight on-time performance. Tony McDonough reports
Liverpool John Lennon Airport (LJLA) handled 4.95m passengers in 2017 – a 3% rise on 2016 and its highest figure since 2011.
The airport has also finished 13th in a global league table for scheduled flight on-time performance and 7th when compared to airports of a similar size.
Highlights in 2017 included the start of Blue Air’s base at Liverpool and the introduction of new year round services to Rome, Milan and Alicante.
Other new services to a range of European cities included Venice with easyJet, and Prague, Bari and Girona with Ryanair, whilst TUI commenced summer holiday flights to Ibiza from Liverpool too.
Last year the Airport also completed the latest phase of development work aimed at further improving the customer experience for departing passengers with the introduction of a number of new retail brands.
These included Dixons and Accessorize, new shops, bars and restaurants and more than £4.5m invested in the refurbishment and upgrade of approximately 20,000 sq ft of the upper floor of the departure lounge.
Other improvements have also included new and improved stores for existing retailers, completely new washroom facilities, large flight information screens, new seating and new lighting to create a lighter and brighter passenger environment.
The latest phase of improvement works are nearing completion with the expansion and redesign of the existing World Duty Free shop with a broader range of products and brands available including MAC and Jo Malone.
Mark Povall, strategy director for LJLA, said: “2017 has been another great year for the airport with even more passengers choosing to take advantage of the convenience of flying from here.
“We expect 2018 to be even busier with easyJet basing another aircraft at Liverpool from July onwards.”