BOLTON Council is set to receive a bumper windfall after Manchester Airport announced record profits.

The firm which runs Manchester Airport is part-owned by the 10 Greater Manchester councils, and all of the authorities are set to benefit from a pot of £74.7 million, which will be shared out.

Bolton Council will receive £3.7 million from the funding pot.

This compares to the £3 million Bolton Council received last year, with this year’s £74.7 million windfall being up by almost a quarter in comparison to 2015.

Of the £3.7 million, £1 million will be spent to help disabled people who need aids or adaptations in their homes. A further £1 million has been allocated in the budget, and a further £1.7 million is yet to be allocated.

Cllr Cliff Morris, leader of Bolton Council, said that the airport dividend was a useful source of funding.

He said: “These are harsh times for the council and we are having to make very difficult decisions.

“This demonstrates the misunderstanding around our balances and reserves. The latter which are already allocated and ensure safety against risk.

“In these difficult times the dividend has proved to be a very helpful investment.

“It has allowed us to prop up existing services, which otherwise would have had to be cut due to the Government cutting our Revenue Support Grant dramatically over the last six years.”

Manchester Airports Group yesterday announced that revenues had increased to £778.8 million in the year to March 31. This represents a 5.5 per cent increase on last year’s figures.

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 of Manchester Airports Group, which also runs Stansted, Bournemouth and East Midlands airports, added: “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,” he said.

“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.”