The group behind Manchester, Stansted and East Midlands airports slumped to a loss of £374m during its latest financial year after passenger numbers fell 89% because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Manchester Airports Group (MAG) has reported its full-year results for the 12 months to March 31, 2021, a day before facing the Government in court alongside Ryanair, British Airways' parent company IAG, Tui and Virgin Atlantic over calls for transparency on its decision-making process for international travel.
MAG kept its airports open throughout the pandemic to support essential travel and freight movements, including medical supplies.
The group said its overall loss of £374m was due to it maintaining "high fixed-cost airport operations with such significant reductions in passenger-related income".
However, increases in online shopping and the reduction in bellyhold freight capacity across the 海角视频 helped drive the group’s cargo operations at East Midlands and London Stansted Airport throughout the pandemic, with cargo volumes increasing 19% and 31% respectively
To secure its financial position in the early months of the pandemic, the group reduced operating costs by more than £183.4m, strengthened its cash position with £300m of additional equity funding from its shareholders and £400m from the sale of the non-essential assets in its property portfolio.
While MAG has made use of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, this only covered a small proportion of the group’s total costs.
Chief executive Charlie Cornish said: "These annual results paint a very different picture to previous years, reflecting the true impact of what has been the most difficult 12 months in our history.
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"We saw international travel come to a near standstill with passenger numbers collapsing to less than 10% of normal levels, and we have had to take a series of decisive, and often difficult actions to protect the future of our business.
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"As we look ahead, I am confident of the strong recovery our business and our sector can make, as well as the critical role our airports will play in ensuring a full recovery of the 海角视频 economy.
"Even in the last few weeks, we have taken tentative steps forward with some important markets now on the Government’s green list.
"However, our recovery has so far been stifled by the Government’s traffic light restrictions on international travel, which are significantly more onerous than other countries.
"After more than a year of disruption, consumers deserve more clarity so they can book with confidence. And as an industry, we need to understand how the Government’s traffic light system works so that we can make the right decisions for the future.
"The Government has been unwilling to provide that transparency and that is why we have been forced into bringing a legal challenge to secure more information, along with five key industry partners.
"We know there is demand for international travel, and we know that it can happen safely. We will continue working to ensure that our world-leading aviation industry, which supports more than 1m jobs and generates billions in economic value each year, can return to full strength and thrive once again, as soon as possible."