EMA toasts record year

Nottingham/East Midlands Airport (EMA) has announced that it enjoyed a record year in 2007, with more than 5.41 million people passing through.

The passenger numbers at the Midlands hub last year represent a 14.5 per cent increase on 2006.

In December alone, 377,929 travellers flew to and from Nottingham/East Midlands Airport, a figure which meant that passenger numbers increased for 12 successive months last year.

EMA boosted its portfolio with a number of new flights in 2007, including five routes provided by Ryanair to Cork, Tenerife, Belfast, Poznan and Alicante.

Scandinavian airline Sterling also arrived at Nottingham, bringing with it new flights to Copenhagen, Oslo and Stockholm, while the airport's long-haul network was also boosted by the launch of an Airtours programme to Jamaica.

Penny Coates, managing director of EMA, said: "This record increase in passengers demonstrates the demand in the region for local access to air travel. I'm delighted with the public response to the wide choice of destinations we're now able to offer and to the investment we've made in improving the passenger experience.

"The challenge for us is to build on this fantastic performance and to continue to deliver the services the region deserves."