A BOOM in the holiday market and flights to London helped passenger figures at Manchester Airport grow by more than five per cent last month, compared with the same period in 2002.

A total of 1,077,885 passengers passed through the terminals of the UK's busiest regional airport last month.

That was 53,483 more than in January 2002, an increase of 5.22 per cent.

The growth was most obvious in the leisure and domestic markets, with the highly competitive London fares offered by British Airways, Bmi and VLM proving particularly attractive to passengers.

Manchester Airport Chairman, Cllr Brian Harrison, said: "This reflects the great choice and competitive prices on offer from Manchester Airport."

Manchester Airport Managing Director, John Spooner, added: "Passengers are now taking advantage of the fact that it can be cheaper and easier to fly to London than to get the train."