Using Manchester Airport (Questions & Reviews)

[LS@MAN]

Arrived into T2 last night from Krakow with the wonderful Jet2
Landed 20mins early on 05L, docked at stand 106R via the stairs at both doors.
During the walk from the south side of the pier I noticed white wall panels which to me looked much better than the white bare walls in the long corridor to immigration where the two travellator’s are, these walls are scuffed with black marks and I noticed some peeling in places!
Why can’t these white wall panels also be installed here too?
The floor condition seems to be ok but for me it’s the wrong type of material to last long term…
Immigration was a breeze as we were the only flight arriving during this time at T2 and baggage was already on the carousal when we entered the baggage hall.
These areas looked clean and tidy until we were in the area between the baggage hall and arrivals, lots of black marks on the floor presumably from suitcases etc but still these could be removed.
Arrivals hall fairly quiet, a quick stop at M&S and then a 5min walk to the Ibis hotel…so after landing at 22:00 and in the hotel by 22:20, I would say 9/10 and as always well done to Jet2 who run a very efficient operation

 

[LS@MAN]

My first negative (maybe debatable) experience of T3 of 2024…arrived at 2.45pm today, security busy but through the queue in 10mins, reject rate of 21.2% in our lane which to me is completely unacceptable!
My bag got rejected and I knew why straight away…I have been to Tenerife 10 days ago and whilst there purchased a bottle opener (with a cork screw), I like a bottle of wine in the hotel room occasionally and decided to purchase an opener whilst in Tenerife, rather than ask every hotel I visit to lend one, bearing in mind I holiday 4/5 times a year!
During security in Tenerife and last week in Krakow, my bar was not rejected, but of course it is here in MAN!
I had a stack of sharp keys in my coat pocket which weren’t looked at, yet this bottle opener had to be confiscated!

Other than that, T3 is busy today with standing room only at every gate! Appreciate it’s half term, but I will sure avoid in the summer if this is anything to go by!

The plus ref the security bit was that the guys were very quick and professional altogether I was only waiting around 8 mins.

 

[LS@MAN]

Flew out of T1 this morning with EasyJet to Hamburg.
Arrived on foot from a hotel, first impression from outside was how nice the greenery and memorial area outside the drop off area look, especially the flowers and even either side of the Olympic house entrance with flowers, makes a big difference! The pavement areas have been resurfaced and slabs power washed. Even the walkway to/from T3 looks like it’s had a clean!

Up in the lift to level 5 for security, check in and security was fairly busy but through with no bag rejection this time in around 12 mins!
All F&B busy but there were some spare seats around. Boarding was called at 5.20 from gate 12B, I certainly won’t miss pier B if it does close permanently, but if management decide to integrate it into an expanded T3, please refurbish this monstrosity both inside and out!

Load factor was around 90% and we pushed back 10 mins ahead of schedule!
Great flight and crew as always from the orange team! Only downside was the queue at immigration in Hamburg took an hour!! So even though we landed 20 mins early, it made absolutely no difference in the end! But hey, that’s another debate!

I’ll be using T3 with Ryanair on 13th May so will report back then!

 

[marni1971]

Flew out of T2 Monday at 1015am. Entered security at 729am, walking to duty free at 741am having used one of the 2 new scanners (with a 3rd being installed). Very quick and efficient.

Wagamamas is closed airside, the hoardings say World Giraffe Kitchen coming soon. Also VIT has closed in the food court. The new Evergreen on the balcony level looks spacious, even if a full English costs more than San Carlo!

Landed Friday night at 945pm. Off the plane at 1008pm, airside with luggage at 1020pm having pleasantly been called to use the empty assistance desks as we walked past the entrance. A Quick Look would suggest every other manned desk was manned too.

It’s still unforgivable the arrivals pier has no travelators. It’s a heck of a walk along it and through the legacy building to the new immigration hall:

Of note, Skylink 2 has one new pair of travelators ready to be switched and another pair being fitted. Annoyingly they have also removed 4 pairs and not to be replaced - a pair between the hotel and T2 (strangely the middle of the 3 pairs) and also the end pair by the station:

We also got caught up in the chaos of the drop off and pick areas being closed by the police. Lots of airport staff were manning every exit showing the way to get to taxis (with some conflicting directions that caused a bit of a mess and confusion) but one guy especially was very polite and said “we just want to help and please the passengers” or similar. A nice touch.

 

[LS@MAN]

As promised, here is my (delayed) review from my latest trip through MAN and this time it's T3 (again!) with Ryanair.

I flew on Monday 13th May to Carcassonne. Arriving into T3 at 13:45, straight to security which was busy but moving swiftly. The lane I was in had a bag reject rate of 21%! Again, I don't understand why the rejections are so high compared to other UK and European airports I visit!
Anyway, luckily for me, my two trays were not rejected
I heard some comments from fellow passengers asking the security staff "is this because I'm flying Ryanair" or "does Ryanair want everyone's hand luggage checking".
Clearly a lot of passengers were confused as to why so many trays were getting rejected, the wait was about 15-20mins. But I can't see this side of things improving until the new scanning equipment is in place next year.

Airside was busy but managed to find a seat for around 45mins prior to boarding. As I have said in the past, I hope the gate areas are reconfigured and/or improved, the sheer number of people queueing at gate 51 next to KFC for the Dublin flight (always seems to be this gate) and people queuing at KFC and in between, passengers like me trying to get past, it was complete pandemonium!
We boarded at gate 54 around 15:00 and departed on schedule.
I have recently noticed on FR24 a lot more flights are departing behind schedule over the last few weeks, but looking deeper into the reason(s) why, the majority of delays are due to ATC slots en route to the flights destinations.
I think MAN and it's handling companies, do a decent job across all airlines and terminals, especially given the constraints of the on-going TP.

My next visit to MAN will be another departure trip, this time from T1 on 10th June when I finally get a holiday (2 weeks in Rhodes!). I just hope the ATC gods are kind to us that day and let our flight depart on time!
Finally, I haven't got any T1 allocated flights planned after this trip, but I do aim to visit at least one last time before it's final closure next spring.

 

[KARFA]

I flew on Monday 13th May to Carcassonne. Arriving into T3 at 13:45, straight to security which was busy but moving swiftly. The lane I was in had a bag reject rate of 21%! Again, I don't understand why the rejections are so high compared to other UK and European airports I visit!

no secret, it is a combination of poor equipment, poor training, and an overly cautious approach ever since they got heavily criticised after a DfT inspection and failing to spot a fake bomb.

Anyway, luckily for me, my two trays were not rejected

i usually do a goat sacrifice to the security gods the night before, that often pleases them and i manage to avoid a secondary

 

[CM.]

travelled through T3 on Wednesday morning heading to LHR on BA1387. Security was quick and fast through in 5mins

Traveling back from London last night on the last BA flight 1406 of the night was off the plane and into the car back to Leeds within 10 minutes.

Overall a good experience of using T3 Manchester.

 

[LS@MAN]

Arrived at T1 departures 11.30am today, up the lift into a very busy check in area for easyJet bag drop, although it looked chaotic, the queue moved quickly and we had our bags dropped in around 20 mins.
Unfortunately though and for reasons unknown to us, we had to endure the nightmare of security B downstairs inside the bowels of T1! This was relatively quick but so cramped and given the fact this area is normally only for jet2, i don’t know why security A was closed!

T1 departures areas busy but seating available. Toilets not the best state but I’ve seen worse!
Flight delayed by around an hour at the moment as I write this, can only assume ATC delays…

I will come back in 10 days again into T1 with easyJet, so will complete this report and include the arrival.

 

[Aviador]

Arrived at T1 departures 11.30am today, up the lift into a very busy check in area for easyJet bag drop, although it looked chaotic, the queue moved quickly and we had our bags dropped in around 20 mins.
Unfortunately though and for reasons unknown to us, we had to endure the nightmare of security B downstairs inside the bowels of T1! This was relatively quick but so cramped and given the fact this area is normally only for jet2, i don’t know why security A was closed!

T1 departures areas busy but seating available. Toilets not the best state but I’ve seen worse!
Flight delayed by around an hour at the moment as I write this, can only assume ATC delays…

I will come back in 10 days again into T1 with easyJet, so will complete this report and include the arrival.

Enjoy your trip!

 

[LS@MAN]

Arrived back into MAN T1 with Easyjet from Rhodes last week.
Docked at stand 6, was hoping for Pier C but it was not to be! 5 min walk to immigration which was absolutely heaving! It was around 4.30pm and I think there were about 2/3 Jet2 flights that landed before us including the A330 from Faro!
We were directed into the queue to the left, so after around 25 mins we finally got to the desk! Luggage was already on the carousel and then to our awaiting minibus in the car park opposite T1 arrivals...on the up side the weather was nice, however, from the moment we got into the minibus until we were out of the car park was 30 mins! 1 barrier to get out and sharing that with the streetcar taxis to our left as you exit!
Not the best experience and after telling our friends of the impending EasyJet transfer to T2 next year, I now learn they may actually remain in T1 (to be T3) until 2026!

My next trip was last Monday (24th) from T3 with Ryanair...arrived at 1.15pm, dropped off my case and through security by 1.30pm! Quickest ever!!
Departure area was busy, went upstairs to the seating area for a coffee and runway views (very nice!). Boarded on time, unfortunately, someone decided to vape in one of the toilets, therefore setting the smoke detector off and the captain then had to call the police for the passenger to be offloaded...we suffered around an hour's delay because of this, but made up about 15 mins en route.
But well done to the Ryanair cabin crew and pilot who handled the situation professionally, keeping us informed and of course, despite a lot of people's opinions on Ryanair, safety really does come first!

 

[LS@MAN]

My latest return trip through the airport:
Arriving into T2 on an Air France A220-300 (very nice aircraft!) on Thursday evening, on stand 105 at 9.20pm, straight through passport control and with hand luggage only, I was outside by 9.35!

When exiting the airbridge to the end of the corridor before you turn right to enter the next corridor towards immigration, I noticed wall panels which look much better compared to the dirty white walls along the section leading to immigration! Why not just put these wall panels up there too!

Departure was this morning from T3 with Ryanair. Arrived at 7am, no queue for security, but my tray was rejected for a set of keys in my coat pocket (which does contain a lot of keyrings!). Waited around 5/6mins for it to be inspected. Looking at the other lanes and there was a rejection rate of 34%!! Totally unacceptable!
I just hope the new scanners reduce these rejection rates!

Terminal was fairly busy although given the size of T3 departure areas (specifically around WHsmith and costa) it's no wonder if always feels busy and crowded!
There was a bit of a gridlock, as the Ryanair Seville flight was called for boarding at Gate 37, but the Ryanair Cologne flight was boarding at Gate 141, which meant passengers trying to go back on themselves to get to Gate 37, had to wait for the Cologne flight to board at Gate 141! This gate is an absolute nightmare and needs removing in my opinion! Even if it means parking an aircraft on the western apron or outside the STS hanger and bussing passengers there!

We boarded at Gate 55 around 40mins before departure and took off on time at 8.50am.
So in summary two efficient journey's, just a shame the security rules have to be different at MAN! But roll on the new scanners and certainly roll on T3 improvements!
I hope the new route from T1>T3 removes the need to go through that horrible narrow corridor past gate 141!

This was my last trip of 2024 through MAN. After 5 weeks of working aboard, I will be on holiday during the Christmas period and return to MAN on 1st Jan.
Here's to 2025...

 

[KARFA]

i hate to be

Departure was this morning from T3 with Ryanair. Arrived at 7am, no queue for security, but my tray was rejected for a set of keys in my coat pocket (which does contain a lot of keyrings!). Waited around 5/6mins for it to be inspected. Looking at the other lanes and there was a rejection rate of 34%!! Totally unacceptable!
I just hope the new scanners reduce these rejection rates!

I hate to say this, but for everywhere which has introduced at least in the first few months my experience is a higher rejection rate with new scanners as staff get use to them. not sure how it will play out at MAN and whether it would calm down after a few months, we can only hope!

 

[Finger66]

For those of you that know (of) me you will be fully aware of my support for my local airport LBA. However currently there is relatively limited destinations that Mrs Finger and I would like to fly to available from LBA. That has meant recent usage of TUI at T2 MAN and I have to say we couldn't fault one aspect of the overall travel experience. M&G Parking used, 1903 Lounge also used outbound. For all the B38M's bad press I find them to be so much more spacious and those overhead bins are amazing. After landing back at MAN at the weekend we were in the car on our way home just 35 minutes after touching down.
TUI aren't of course LBA's biggest fans and that does tend to rub off on us LBA supporters but I have to say very well done on this occasion to both TUI and MAN. We have a lot to look forward to at LBA over the coming few years so who knows if this will be my last use of MAN but I felt it was only fair to offer praise where praise was clearly due regardless of any airport bias that exists

 

[Scottie Dog]

Many thanks for those kind and honest words. As you know, it's so easy to write a post full of complaints but I'm so pleased that you have taken the time to make a complimentary post. Hopefully you will enjoy the same service if you use Manchester again.

 

[jfy1999]

On the 4th, I flew FR693 (Manchester - Vienna) on Lauda A320 (9H-LOT) from terminal 3

As with my jet2 flight last year, I took the national express coach, arrived too early and my boarding pass was declined at security. I waited about an hour in Caffè Nero which was very full. Had good service from the staff there. Afterwards, I passed through security quickly.

The retail area was extremely crowded, with people sitting on the floor and on steps. However, this seemed to be due to herd mentality- a lot of people seemed to be unaware that there were often free seats in the gate areas between flights. I therefore ordered some takeaway food and took it to a quiet gate seating area while watching flights.

The inbound flight from Vienna was delayed by nearly 2 hours but boarding progressed smoothly once it arrived.

However, the terminal clearly needs expanding in some way to provide more seating and wider corridors. I can only imagine what it’s like in peak summer.

 

[HX3]

I flew out on the 6th and returned on 13th. Outbound check in was very quick as self checked in with Tui. Bag drop and security was really quick - 2 mins max for each. Security was very organised and smooth. Into departures it was busy, there were people returning for flights cancelled the day before and there were impacted flights due to diverts due to the runway closure on the morning. This made departures busy but there were still plenty of seats. We were called to board via the bus gates. First time using it, it is efficient but very basic. We boarded 40 minutes before departure and then sat on the plane. We were apparently 2nd in line for de icing and the captain said each was talking up to an hour, due to snow and temperature. About 2.5 hours later the de-icer eventually turned up, only to have a headset issue. The captain couldn’t hide his frustration, he described the airport as chaotic. Deicing completed and we eventually took off. We were on the plane 4 hours prior to departure and then the flight to Funchal was 3.5 hours. Sat on the plane for so long was horrendous- im 6’3 so I felt broken by the time we got to Madeira. The airport was a good experience until boarding. I appreciate the weather wasn’t good, but Swissport were shocking.

On arrival, we arrived at one of the pepper pots. A bit of a trek down the corridor - partly narrowed due to works - some signs saying why may be helpful. Immigration was a breeze, 2 mins to wait for cases. In the car park 25 minutes after landing. Then onto the m60/m62 - which was carnage.

Whilst the airport terminal was efficient, infrastructure and 3rd parties are not. Part of the delay was that landing aircraft had to be prioritised, as they had been circling waiting for ages for apron space to be freed up, apron space wasn’t being freed up due to insufficient de icing machines and dodgy equipment. Unfortunately, this made the overall departure experience feel poor.

 

[Scottie Dog]

Many thanks HX3 for that report and feedback. I'm pleased to hear that the facilities, managed directly by the airport, was efficient and allowed you to proceed speedily.
The problem of having to use a handling agent is really the airlines responsibility, as I'm sure that you are aware. I do wonder how, if we had hard winters for a couple of months every year, both the handling agents, and airport, would cope. My thought is that it would be far better. You have to ask yourself how much money is invested in machinery that may only be used a couple of times a year? If deicing rigs, ploughs etc were needed far more frequently, then I'm sure that more money would be spent in ensuring a better volume of equipment.

 

[HX3]

I agree Scottie Dog, it is a balancing act and with a temperate climate, currently we hedge against less winter equipment and the decisions lie with the airline and handlers- I have already submitted my feedback to Tui in this regard, as their use of Swissport must be on cost as the service is dire.

The lack of apron space, however, is very much the airport responsibility. Again, as the transformation develops this should (in theory) ease, but I’m not sure how it matches with the airport growth plan. I think things will be quite tight.

 

[marni1971]

I will chip in from 3 years ago when we flew end of November (a rarity for us). Having been de iced once with AF on T2, we missed our slot and had to wait for a second de icer - being told it was in use on T1. I’m not suggesting there’s a huge fleet for each terminal, but the weather was forecast correctly and there was an obvious lack of equipment to keep up.

 

[Aviador]

Holiday booked to the Dominican Republic for August flying from Manchester. It pains me to have to travel to fly somewhere that is absolutely *reachable* from my local airport over in Leeds, but it is what it is.

I'll be flying with airline Tui, but again no real affordable alternative choice from the IT market and I don't fancy using a connecting service either from LBA or in the US. The upside is we'll be staying with a hotel group of choice which I know will be superb.

I will endeavour to provide an honest review of your local airport and my travel journey on the day.
#DominicanRepublic #TUI #ManchesterAirport
#NotMyLocalAirport