It is the best first half of the year figure for the airport since 2011 and June alone saw 470,000 passengers using the airport – a 2.5% year-on-year rise. Tony McDonough reports

More than 2.4m people have flown in or out of Liverpool John Lennon Airport (LJLA) in the first half of 2018 – a 3% rise on the same period in 2017.

It is the best first half of the year figure for the airport since 2011 and June alone saw 470,000 passengers using the airport – a 2.5% year-on-year rise – as the busy summer season got into full swing.

Figures for the past 12 months show that the airport’s annual passenger numbers have now exceeded 5m for the first time in seven years.

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A combination of additional new services to Majorca and Malaga with Blue Air, to Shannon with Ryanair, plus Champions League Final flights and higher passenger loads on existing well established routes, have helped to boost passenger numbers.

Growth is expected to continue during the second half of the year too, with a number of new routes having already been announced from for 2018. Later this month, easyJet will begin flights to Pula, Dalaman and Palermo with the addition of its eighth aircraft to be based at Liverpool.

And Wideroe is to start its service to Bergen in August and Ryanair are to commence flights to Paphos in October.

Paul Winfield, director of aviation development for LJLA, said: “The first half of 2018 has been another successful period for the airport with more and more passengers taking advantage of the convenience of flying from Liverpool.

“The recent completion of the latest terminal improvements gives our growing numbers of passengers an even better customer experience and as we build up to the busiest time of the year with the start of the school summer holidays just a few weeks away, we expect to see further growth in passenger numbers during the second half of the year.”