A RECORD number of passengers flew from Leeds Bradford Airport last year as 2017 marked the third consecutive year of annual growth.

The region’s airport welcomed 4.08 million passengers, with August recorded as the busiest month, when 524,707 people flew through the gates.

The same month saw the airport record its busiest ever week, when more than 120,000 passengers flew out, for the first time in its history.

Alicante was the favoured destination for Yorkshire’s travellers, with 328,133 people travelling to the Costa Blanca.

A number of changes took place in 2017, with the airport announcing David Laws as its new chief executive officer and AMP Capital acquiring the business on behalf of investors in its global infrastructure equity platform from Bridgepoint Advisers Limited.

Mr Laws said: “We had a tremendous 2017 at LBA and these passenger figures show how the airport is going from strength-to-strength.

“There is a rising demand for air travel across Yorkshire and the surrounding regions, and our ambition is to meet that by offering the very best choice of destinations for both business and leisure passengers.

“Despite some disappointing setbacks, including the collapse of Monarch and a reduction in our BA service, we now have the widest choice of flights available and will continue our approach to secure additional routes to ensure the people of Yorkshire have an airport to be proud of and are connected to the world.”

With 33,024 scheduled flights to more than 70 direct destinations, 2017 saw Flybe’s inaugral flight to Dusseldorf in October, Ryanair add the Polish city of Wroclaw, as well as Jet2.com increasing its overall capacity and announcing a new route to La Rochelle in Fance.

This year, the airport will welcome Thomas Cook back to Leeds Bradford with services to Dalaman, Antalya and Palma for Summer’18.