Our history

Manchester Airport, then called Ringway Airport, opens and is fully funded by Manchester City Council.

A new £2.7million terminal, the present Terminal 1, is opened by HRH Duke of Edinburgh.

The M56 motorway is built to serve Manchester Airport.

A new domestic terminal, the present Terminal 3, is opened.

Terminal 2 is opened, doubling Manchester's terminal capacity. The airport's rail station is also opened.

Manchester Airport acquires a majority shareholding in Humberside Airport.

MAG (Manchester Airports Group) is formed to own and operate Manchester Airport and other acquisitions.

MAG purchases East Midlands and Bournemouth Airports for £241 million from National Express Group.

The £800m Airport City Manchester, one of the most connected, intelligent and enterprising business destinations in development, starts construction.

MAG sells its share of Humberside Airport for £2.3 million to Eastern Group.

MAG purchases London Stansted Airport for £1.5 billion.

IFM Investors takes a 35.5% stake in MAG.

MAG USA is established to oversee the development of MAG’s airport services business in North America.

The President of The People’s Republic of China, His Excellency Xi Jinping, and the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, the Rt Hon David Cameron, visit Manchester Airport to launch a new direct flight to Beijing with Hainan Airlines and a £130m 'China Cluster' at the Airport City development.

MAG contributes £6.2bn to economy and has grown London Stansted's annual passenger numbers by 7m in the three years since it bought the airport.

British Airways announces its first ever scheduled flights from London Stansted Airport.

The first flights from Manchester to San Francisco start - the first ever link between the UK and San Francisco from outside London.

Jet2.com chooses London Stansted as its first ever base in Southern England.

In December, MAG sells Bournemouth Airport to Regional & City Airports, the airports management division of Rigby Group plc.