Flight planning...

With no sign of the current cold freeze letting up, thousands of Brits will be thinking of heading for warmer shores. Manchester Airport has been spared the worst of the weather so far this winter and has remained open where other airports have succumbed. Handling approximately 20 million passengers per year, the airport is the busiest in the United Kingdom outside the London area. Owners Manchester Airports Group yesterday won the race to buy Stansted Airport in London, signing a deal worth £1.5bn. Plans were also approved yesterday for Manchester's Airport City, a £650million development of a 60-acre park to the north of the airport that will include new offices, industrial units, hotels, retail and leisure facilities and is set create 11,400 jobs over the next ten to 15 years.