BURY Council has been given a cash boost – after Manchester Airport announced record profits.

The firm which runs Manchester Airport is part owned by the 10 Greater Manchester councils.

Manchester City Council owns 35.5 per cent of the transport hub and the remaining nine authorities, including Bury Council, own 29 per cent.

Bury Council is expected to receive just over £3 million from the funding pot.

Cllr Rishi Shori, Bury Council leader, welcomed the news and said he was delighted that the airport was doing so well.

"About 2,000 Bury residents work at Manchester Airport and it is encouraging that it is enjoying record profits," said Cllr Shori.

He added: "This money will help mitigate the budget cuts the council has had to suffer in recent years and help us fund projects."

One of those projects is a major improvement plan of the borough's 25 play areas, which has been carried out in the last 12 months.

Manchester Airports Group (MAG) yesterday announced that revenues had increased to £778.8 million in the 12-month period ending on March 31.

This represents a 5.5-per-cent increase on the previous 12 months.

Pre-tax profits also increased, from £283.6 million last year, to £317.7 million this year.

The figures come as the airport continues to expand, recently announcing new routes from Manchester to Boston, Phuket and Mauritius.

Charlie Cornish, chief executive MAG, which also runs Stansted, Bournemouth and East Midlands airports, said: "This has been the fifth consecutive year of growth for the group and we have continued to outperform our challenging financial targets and seen record numbers of passengers using our airports.

"We have also made significant progress with our long-term investment programme, made an important contribution to the economies in which we operate and generated increased returns for our shareholders.

"Our airports have been able to outperform their competitors over the last year largely because they still have the capacity to grow.

"In the coming years, as this country continues to see an increase in air travel, Government must ensure that aviation policy makes best use of capacity at airports where it already exists, such as London Stansted and Manchester."