The new year promises to be ground-breaking for Manchester Airport, with its decade-long, £1.3bn Terminal 2 transformation due to be completed in a matter of weeks, and a project to redesign and improve Terminal 3 also rapidly progressing. The airport reported record passenger numbers in every month of 2025 and expects its growth to continue into 2026, with more flights, more destinations and more choice than ever before for passengers.
We’ve got the lowdown on the brand new routes coming in for 2026, where you’ll be able to fly to from Manchester Airport.
New Manchester Airport routes for 2026
Montpellier, France
easyJet‘s service to France’s Mediterranean coast launches on Monday 30 March. Montpellier is one of the biggest cities in southern France and offers an array of cultural sights, from museums and art galleries to archaeological sites like the ancient city of Lattara – but most passengers flying into the city’s airport are headed for nearby coastal resorts like Palavas-les-Flots, Sete and Carnon. The region’s beaches are a popular spot for water sports and its seafood is also renowned.
Preveza, Greece
easyJet‘s other confirmed new service is to Preveza in Greece. It begins on Wednesday 24 June and easyJet will join Jet2.com and TUI in flying here, offering even greater choice to passengers.
Preveza is on the mainland but faces the island of Lefkada, which has come to rival Corfu as one of the most popular tourist destinations on Greece’s Ionian Sea coast. Expect similar vibes to Corfu with fabulous beaches, colourful Venetian architecture and delicious Greek food.
La Palma, Canaries
Jet2.com begins flying to the Canary Island of La Palma on Friday 3 April, joining TUI in linking it to Manchester. It’s quieter than neighbouring islands like Tenerife and Fuerteventura but offers many of the same experiences, from charming port towns to black sand beaches and a rugged volcanic landscape great for nature-lovers.
Palermo, Sicily
On Friday 1 May, Jet2.com launches the first direct service from Manchester to Palermo, the largest city on the island of Sicily. It’s a lively destination with bustling markets and tasty street food, and plenty of history too – its Old Town is a UNESCO World Heritage site. Head out of Palermo in a westerly direction and you’ll find some of the island’s best beaches, including the stunning San Vito Lo Capo.
Samos, Greece
Jet2.com‘s flights to Samos start on Tuesday 5 May, and it will be the only airline to offer a direct link from Manchester to this picturesque Greek island in the eastern Aegean, emerging as a popular alternative to its much busier neighbours Mykonos and Santorini. Foodies will be truly at home here – it’s famous for high-quality honey, cheese, olive oil and sweet Muscat wine, and some of its beaches, including Tsamadou and Potami, have become Instagram-famous.
Castellon, Spain
Another brand new route for Manchester Airport, Ryanair‘s flights to Castellon commence on Monday 1 June. The city is the gateway to the Costa del Azahar, or ‘Coast of the Orange Trees‘, a stretch of more than 80 miles of golden sands that has long been popular with Spanish holidaymakers but is something of a hidden gem for international visitors. Be sure to tuck into some Paella while you’re here – this is the part of Spain where the dish originated.
Bodrum, Turkey
Rounding off the list, SunExpress begins flights to Bodrum on Monday 4 May, joining easyJet and Jet2.com in offering a direct service from Manchester. Famous for Bodrum Castle and the ruins of the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, the city sits at the heart of Turkey’s Aegean coastline and is surrounded by a string of resorts offering all-inclusive stays.
New routes from Manchester Airport in 2025
Perhaps the route that generated the most excitement among the travelling public in 2025 was the launch of flights with Norse to Bangkok in November – the world’s most visited city and one of Manchester’s top unserved destinations. Earlier in the summer, Indian carrier IndiGo made Manchester – Mumbai its very first European service, and then quickly followed that up with a Manchester – Delhi route, connecting the North of the UK with India’s capital city and with its main financial and commercial centre.
In October, direct flights to Islamabad were launched by PIA – a significant boost for dozens of communities across northern England where more than 300,000 British Pakistanis reside. New pins on the map closer to home included easyJet’s new services to city break favourites Strasbourg and Ljubljana as well as a service to the Moroccan capital Rabat with Ryanair, and Jet2.com flying to the Estonian capital Tallinn.
Chris Woodroofe, Managing Director at Manchester Airport, said: “We’re proud to connect the North with more destinations than any of our competitors, and to also offer more frequent flights to well-established holiday favourites, giving passengers flexibility and choice when booking their next trip. Our route network is unrivalled, with more than 200 destinations across the planet – but we’re not content to stop there.
“I’m definitely looking to get to 40 million passengers per year over the next five years and there are several specific routes, like Riyadh and Tokyo that I’d like to add to our departure board over that period too. Equally, North America, South America and Africa are all places where we could expand our footprint.”
Brose all new flights and book on the Manchester Airport website.