A busy May half-term break contributed to an increase in the number of people flying through East Midlands Airport compared to last year.
The airport remains buoyant as it welcomed 465,300 passengers in May – that’s 9,300 or 2.1% more than in 2025. Just over a third of those travelled over the May bank holiday and half term, a period which also saw a stronger performance than the previous year.
Palma de Mallorca was the most popular destination during May, with 43,447 people travelling there, followed by Alicante (41,662), Malaga (31,887) and Faro (24,684). Barcelona made it into the top ten with 10,576 people choosing the Spanish city, while Rhodes attracted almost 17,500 showing ongoing certainty around the Eastern Mediterranean.
The Top 10
- Palma De Mallorca
- Alicante
- Malaga
- Faro
- Tenerife (Surreina Sofia)
- Arrecife
- Rhodes – Maritsa
- Dublin
- Ibiza
- Barcelona
The airport continues to go from strength to strength, with passengers enjoying a wide range of improvements to the airport experience as part of an ongoing investment programme. Recent survey results also revealed 97% of customers ranked East Midlands Airport good to excellent, while 71% would recommend it to friends and family.
It also achieved great reliability results, with 90.4% of flights in the busy early morning wave leaving on time – helping to rank it the fourth least disrupted UK airport according to CAA data.
At the end of May, a new daily route to Jersey was launched from East Midlands Airport by Loganair, offering great connections to the popular Channel Island.
The airport’s cargo operation also continues to thrive – with an 11% (7,000 tonne) increase in freight volumes handled last month compared to last May, totalling 36,750 tonnes. The airport has been successfully attracting new cargo business and investing in facilities to prepare for further growth in this area.
East Midlands Airport Managing Director Steve Griffiths said: “We have high hopes for a busy summer ahead, with these latest figures showing year-on-year increases in both our passenger and cargo operations.
“With a new airline launching services and the summer schedules for existing airlines already underway, customers can look forward to getting away to their favourite holiday spots without the hassle that’s sometimes associated with airport travel. We work hard to make it effortless, and have invested in a whole range of new and improved facilities to make it even more enjoyable.”
