Manchester Tribute To The Star Spangled Banner

Manchester Airport’s Terminal Two will be lit up in red, white and blue this weekend as thousands of passengers jet off to the United States ahead of Independence Day on Tuesday.

More than 100,000 people travel to the US from Manchester Airport every month, with New York, Houston, Orlando and Atlanta all served by direct flights.

The North West of England is home to around 20,000 American-born residents, many of whom are expected to travel across the Atlantic this weekend to join friends and family members for Independence Day festivities.

They will be getting a special send-off, with Terminal Two’s famous honeycomb lights lit up in the colours of the Stars and Stripes and a ‘Happy Fourth of July’ message displayed on the giant Media Wall screen.

Independence Day is a national holiday in the United States, famed for family barbecues and firework displays, and marks the anniversary of the Declaration of Independence being signed in Philadelphia on July 4, 1776.

Chris Woodroofe, Managing Director of Manchester Airport, said: “Earlier this month, Virgin Atlantic announced the return of direct flights to Las Vegas from next summer, which demonstrates the strong post-pandemic recovery in demand for travel to the US. We’re doing all we can to expand our transatlantic route network even further in the years ahead.”

At the moment, passengers travelling from Manchester can fly directly to four US cities, with a fifth soon to follow;

New York City is served by AerLingus and Virgin Atlantic, who both fly into John F Kennedy Airport.
Orlando is also served by both AerLingus and Virgin Atlantic, year-round. Tui operates a seasonal summer service to Melbourne Orlando International Airport.
Houston is served by Singapore Airlines.
Atlanta is served by Virgin Atlantic. The city’s Hartsfield–Jackson International Airport is the world’s busiest airport by passenger volume and puts passengers from Manchester within one transfer of over 150 US airports.
Virgin Atlantic recently announced it would resume flights to Las Vegas from June 2, 2024, for the first time since the Covid-19 pandemic. Tickets go on sale in July 2023.

The US is the second largest inbound visitor market to the North West, only behind the Republic of Ireland (as at 2019).*