Manchester Airport launches Christmas community initiatives as millions travel for festive breaks

With flights to Lapland for the festive season underway, Manchester Airport is launching a range of initiatives to spread Christmas cheer to neighbouring communities.

Millions of passengers are expected to travel through the airport in the run up to Christmas to travel for Christmas markets, winter sports trips, or visits to friends and family overseas, making December one of the Northern hub’s busiest times of year.

Passengers on flights, including the 30,000 expected to travel to one of Lapland’s four airports from Manchester, will see plenty of seasonal touches on their way through the airport. A giant 20 ft Christmas tree is on display in Terminal 2, and decorations also on show in the other terminals. The airport’s ‘Holidays Mode Activated’ campaign is also live, promoting offers and discounts on dozens of stocking fillers, and a number of the hub’s bars and restaurants have special festive menus.

And colleagues at the airport are helping spread the spirit of the season to neighbouring communities through a range of activities, from present giveaways to opportunities to meet Father Christmas.

A Santa’s Grotto in Terminal 1’s free play area will be open until Wednesday 18^th December – giving young travellers an opportunity to send off their Christmas lists (and receive a reply) with a Letters to Santa Station. Santa’s elves are on hand throughout the next few weeks and the big man himself will be at the Grotto to greet families on Thursdays and Fridays.

Santa will also be making an appearance on children’s charity Childflight’s annual Search for Santa on Tuesday 10^th December, when 140 children from Manchester embark on an unforgettable adventure. The circular flight will take them over the snow-capped peaks of North Wales, doubling for the North Pole, and sees Santa surprise them mid-flight before returning to Manchester later that afternoon. The event, run in partnership by Manchester Airport and TUI for Childflight, provides an unforgettable experience for children from disadvantaged backgrounds, many of whom have either never flown before.

Airport colleagues are also helping Santa out by gathering gifts as part of the airport’s annual MAG Giftmas campaign. Colleagues taking part in the campaign took a bauble from a Christmas tree in the airport’s offices with a suggested present written on it, and then provided that gift to the collection.

These will top up an approximate £3,000 worth of gifts purchased by the airport, and the airport’s senior leadership team will be wrapping these gifts and delivering them to local communities for distribution at community centres, community cafes, care homes, sheltered housing and schools. The scheme aims to ensure that no child or vulnerable person in the communities around the airport goes without a gift to open on Christmas morning.

The airport has also provided local schools with tickets to watch a pantomime at Wythenshawe Forum this week, and has extended invites to a number of community choirs to perform in its terminals throughout the month.

Chris Woodroofe, Managing Director, Manchester Airport, said:

“I’m enormously proud of the active role the airport plays in its neighbouring communities, and that’s particularly important at this time of year. I’d like to thank all colleagues who have donated gifts or volunteered their time for schemes like MAG Giftmas and Childflight this year, and I know their efforts will help create some magical memories for youngsters across Manchester.

“We are also very much looking forward to welcoming the millions of travellers jetting off on festive trips to all four corners of the world. Around 99% of passengers got through security in under 15 minutes last month, so we are seeing strong operational performance and we’ve also invested in new snow-clearing equipment this year, so we’re well prepared for the challenges of winter weather.”