Passengers of the busy Dalaman airport transfers travelling on one of the recently opened routes from Blackpool Airport were among the main factors that caused this British airport to experience an upsurge in customers in the past year.

The opening of three new services to Dalaman, Ibiza and Lanzarote, all operated by one of the main airlines serving the airport, caused passenger figures for the Blackpool installation to increase by roughly 27.000 in 2013, when compared to previous years. This represents an increase of roughly 12 percent, a figure that surpassed the airport’s initial expectations, which were set at around 20.000 new passengers — many of whom used the popular Dalaman airport transfers.

All in all, around 262.300 passengers flew from Squires Gate — the official name for Blackpool Airport — last year. While still well shy of the 500.000 customers this installation saw at its peak in 2007, this number is nonetheless considered respectable; it indicates a tendency for recovery, after recession heavily impacted the airport’s volumes of business. Further proof of this is that Squires Gate’s balances also improved, with the airport’s debt now sitting at only around £2 million.

Sources close to the airport consider these trends encouraging and representative of a realisation on the £30 million investment made by the private firm who recently bought 95% of this installation from Blackpool Council. It is thought, however, that the present figures can be improved upon; the same sources revealed that Blackpool Airport has the infra-structure to handle twice the volume of business it did in 2013.

Squires Gate sits on a total of 400 acres and sees roughly 50.000 planes land and depart from its premises daily. It employs an estimated 300 people, of whom 100 work full time, and has recently seen improvements made to its terminal, chief amongst them the expansion of the duty-free shop. As well as national and international flights, it serves as a helicopter base for companies serving the offshore energy industry.

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