LJLA handled almost 5m passengers in 2017 and that momentum is being maintained this year with growth in January and February coming in at 2% and 4% respectively. Tony McDonough reports

Liverpool John Lennon Airport (LJLA) says passengers numbers in the first two months of this year are up by 20,000 on the same period last year – a 3% rise.

LJLA handled almost 5m passengers in 2017 – its highest figure since 2011 – and that momentum is being maintained into 2018 with growth in January and February coming in at 2% and 4% respectively.

It is the busiest January and February at the airport since 2010 with new destinations proving popular with travellers.

Many passengers have been choosing to take advantage of flights to warmer destinations including Alicante in southern Spain and Lanzarote in the Canary Islands, while others have been heading off in search of even more snow with destinations such as Geneva and Salzburg proving popular.

Growth is expected to continue during the year with six new routes having already been announced from Liverpool for 2018 with Blue Air to operate new flights to Palma and Malaga, easyJet to serve Pula, Dalaman and Palermo and Ryanair to fly to Shannon.

Paul Winfield, director of aviation development for LJLA, said: “2018 is already proving to be another good year for the Airport with encouraging passenger numbers using Liverpool.

“The airport has seen 70,000 more passengers use Liverpool than in February three years ago.”