The number of passengers who used the facility grew by 250,000, bringing the total number of passengers to 1.67 million.
This growth of 17.7%, when coupled with strong growth in both December and November, means the airport served 25.9 million passengers for the 12 months running up to the end of January.
The increase was enough for it to replace Stockholm Arlanda Airport as the 20th biggest in terms of passenger numbers in Europe.
The increase also means the UK joins Spain as only one of two countries to have three airports in the European top 20.
Manchester Airport Group (MAG) chief executive Charlie Cornish said: “MAG operates the country’s two biggest airports with spare runway capacity.
“Airlines are seeing the value of the capacity we offer and our double-digit growth is testament to our airports’ strong appeal.
“We now need the government to prioritise through its industrial and aviation strategies the question of how we are going to make best use of the runway capacity we have in this country, by improving access to airports with capacity which are now growing significantly.
“Airports like London Stansted and Manchester can take the strain over the next decade and help deliver the vision of a Global Britain.”
“For Manchester to enter the top 20 airports of Europe is a significant milestone and puts us amongst the leading gateways on the continent, in terms of total passenger numbers, the mix of destinations available and the aircraft operating on those routes.”
The other three airports owned by MAG also reported growth in January, albeit at reduced levels to that seen by Manchester.
Stansted reported a year-on-year growth of 5% in January in passenger numbers giving it a total of 1,745,212 for the month.
East Midlans reported an increase of 14.9% in January to 219,372 while an 11.6% growth during the same period saw Bournemouth airport handle 33,006 passengers.
