East Midlands airport has had a bumper February with passenger numbers up 19.2%, and expects to be very busy for the Easter holiday.

New destinations and increased seat capacity from tour operators are two of the reasons cited by the airport for the increase in passenger numbers in February to just over 395,000. The extra day thanks to this being a leap year also helped.

Passengers benefited from the range of destinations offered by low cost airlines from East Midlands airport, including bmibaby, easyJet and Ryanair. Capacity on flights from Thomson, Thomas Cook and XL.com was also increased due to customer demand says the airport.

Altogether international scheduled traffic was up by 18.7% in February, while domestic scheduled traffic grew by 12.6% and charter traffic by 20.5%.

Among the new flights from East Midlands airport were First Choice flights to the long haul winter sun destination of Goa. Flights to another winter sun destination, Egypt, also proved particularly popular.

The airport, which is the 13th largest passenger airport in the UK, says it is anticipating a busy Easter holiday period. Around 95,000 people are expected to travel through East Midlands airport between 19 and 25 March, an increase of 7% compared to the last Easter holiday.

Good Friday is expected to be the busiest day for the airport with over 18,000 people jetting off in search of winter sun, a skiing or snowboarding holiday, or visiting friends and family. The airport reports that Dublin, Alicante, Tenerife, Glasgow and Edinburgh are likely to be the most popular destinations from East Midlands during the Easter holiday.

There is still a one item of hand luggage only restriction in place at East Midlands airport, and passengers are urged to check information about security at the airport before they set off.