Manchester Airports Group Plc (MAG) said it believed the airport should develop into an international hub.

But it insisted its existing capacity would remain sufficient until 2030.

The airport is the largest outside the South East and the third largest in the UK.

Manchester Airport has sufficient capacity to accommodate a significant expansion of passenger traffic by 2030

Chief Executive Geoff Muirhead

The building of a second runway in the 1990s resulted in large-scale protests by local residents and environmentalists.

MAG's announcement follows the end of the government's consultation process over the future of airport provision in the UK.

It said Manchester was ideally placed to become the UK's first international hub airport outside of the South East.

It claimed this would bring considerable economic benefits to the whole of northern England.

'Ideally placed'

But it said government funding for better road and public transport services for the airport was essential to support the airport's expansion.

Chief Executive Geoff Muirhead said the process was crucial to ending "20 years of uncertainty" in the industry which had affected the UK's international standing.

He added: "It is essential that the white paper which emerges from the consultation contains a plan of action to reverse that trend

"Manchester Airport has sufficient capacity to accommodate a significant expansion of passenger traffic by 2030 and is ideally placed to develop as a second UK hub airport."