Airport group MAG, operator of Stansted and Manchester Airports, has reported a summer of growth.

The group also passed the milestone of handling 60 million passengers per year across its three airports.

MAG passenger numbers increased by 3.8% year-on-year, driven by strong growth at London Stansted Airport, including the launch of a new Emirates service.

Stansted Airport saw passenger numbers in the first half of the year continue to climb strongly.

Passenger numbers actually grew 8.9% year-on-year to 15.9m, with continued passenger growth from Ryanair and Jet2.com as well as the start of the Emirates’ daily Boeing 777 service to Dubai.

Manchester also saw a resilient summer with a resurgence in summer holiday travel to Turkey.

Manchester Airport will have links to the High Speed 2 rail line.

MAG is now caling on the government to commit to improving links to strategic airports, including Stansted.

It said in the last year, MAG’s airports across the UK, Stansted, Manchester and East Midlands, contributed 7.8bn in economic value for UK plc and the communities in which the airports operate. That is a 9.9% increase on the previous year.

Charles Cornish, chief executive of MAG said:“MAG’s dynamic and innovative approach to operating our airports has again delivered a healthy performance, with sustained growth taking us through the 60 million passengers per annum milestone across our three airports in September 2018.

“Our airports are nationally significant assets with the ability to deliver the aviation capacity the UK needs in the coming decade, and their continued growth is being supported by significant investment by MAG.”