Using Manchester Airport (Questions & Reviews)

[Jerry]

I'm flying with BA in April on their flight to Heathrow in Club Europe and I was wondering if anyone had used the Escape Airline Lounge at Terminal 3 and whether it was worth using it before my flight or not? My flight is the 16.25 departure.

 

[LS@MAN]

I'm flying with BA in April on their flight to Heathrow in Club Europe and I was wondering if anyone had used the Escape Airline Lounge at Terminal 3 and whether it was worth using it before my flight or not? My flight is the 16.25 departure.

Not used the escape lounge in T3.
But I would suggest keeping an eye on any emails from BA or on social media regarding the transfer of BA flights to T2.
Although not confirmed yet, they are due to move around March/April time.

 

[Jerry]

Not used the escape lounge in T3.
But I would suggest keeping an eye on any emails from BA or on social media regarding the transfer of BA flights to T2.
Although not confirmed yet, they are due to move around March/April time.

Ok thanks. I didn't know about the move. I'll have to keep an eye out for any email.

 

[KARFA]

i mean, you may as well use it since you are entitled when in in club. it is ok. hot and cold food are available, as well as drinks. i don't make any effort to get to the airport early to use it tho!

by april it is possible they will have opened the old 1903 as well to use as overflow - usually they send ba passengers in there with the main escape lounge used for paid customers.

also just to throw another spanner in there, it is not impossible by april that ba will be in t2 - and we have no idea what lounge they would use there.

 

[LS@MAN]

i mean, you may as well use it since you are entitled when in in club. it is ok. hot and cold food are available, as well as drinks. i don't make any effort to get to the airport early to use it tho!

by april it is possible they will have opened the old 1903 as well to use as overflow - usually they send ba passengers in there with the main escape lounge used for paid customers.

also just to throw another spanner in there, it is not impossible by april that ba will be in t2 - and we have no idea what lounge they would use there.

Why isn’t the 1903 open anyway?

 

[KARFA]

Why isn’t the 1903 open anyway?

i assume winter there isn't the demand for both to be open, and in the summer they make more money opening it as overflow so they can take both ba money (and until recently IB money), and money from paid bookings.

i think it is also a capacity issue - the escape on it's own is simply too small for all the demand in the summer.

 

[Jerry]

also just to throw another spanner in there, it is not impossible by april that ba will be in t2 - and we have no idea what lounge they would use there

According to BA website there's an Escape lounge and 1903 lounge at Terminal 2 used by Cathay and Qatar Airways.

. i don't make any effort to get to the airport early to use it tho!

I don't usually get access to or use lounges so I suppose it's just curiosity as to what they're like.

 

[Yordas]

First time using the new T2 with Lufthansa, it was late afternoon. Security was very quiet, the staff were very helpful with the new scanners, but a fabric belt with plastic buckle still needs removing. Not needed to do that at Leeds with the same belt and new scanners?
Lufthansa use the Aspire lounge which even though the airport was quiet was nearly full. Hate to think what it's like for the early flights.
We used gate 206 so it was a bit of a trek due to the redevelopment of those gates.
Overall though a much improved experience.

 

[HX3]

Returned via T2 today, slight wait for gate to be allocated, other than that the terminal experience was very good, immigration and baggage reclaim were both quick. The only let down was t2 west multi-storey, queuing to get out for ages, which I assume is part of the anpr update. Carpark aside, a good experience.

 

[LS@MAN]

After over a year of not using T2, I recently had the pleasure during some quiet periods to use MAN's newest facility...

Arriving on a Wednesday evening on board KLM at 21:55 parking at stand 106. Upon disembarkation, I notice there are nice grey wall panels along the corridor before you enter the next corridor, which in my opinion should have been placed along all of the walls between the pier and immigration. This looks and feels much more modern and cleaner, as the white (mainly plain) walls along the corridor towards immigration are filthy! This would be the ideal time of year to make some changes before the summer season starts and flights are arriving all through the night!
We arrived alone in T2 so immigration was a breeze, hand luggage only for me so I was outside in the car park only 15mins after we docked onto our stand

Departure was a Monday late afternoon, my train arrived late into MAN so it was a bit of a rush to T2, however, I have never seen the check in and security areas so quiet! I arrived in T2 at 15:30 and was having a coffee by 15:40!
The lights were switched on one of the new departures signs in legacy T2 check in, so it looks like there will be two separate entrances to the new security area? When I entered the current check in area, I noticed a lot more self service kiosks, listing various airlines.
I was only 1 of seven passengers in security at the time, however, there were 4 bags rejected in the short time I was there (luckily mine was not one of them!). First time for me using the new scanners in the UK, all very efficient and quick. I noticed the screen above the scanner showed a rejection rate of 17.4%! I don't know how often this figure is updated, but seemed high for the amount of passengers at that time! Would be interesting to have a breakdown of the reasons why bags are being rejected with the new scanners now in place...
I also observed the lane I was using (number 1) had three separate body scanners (although only 1 was in use at this time), didn't notice if this was the case for all lanes, but this must also reduce the queuing time for passengers, so nice to see.

T2 departures was quiet and my gate was soon announced (A5). Upon walking to the A gates located in pier 1, again I couldn't help but notice how dirty and grubby the plain white walls are! Those grey wall panels would have been ideal here too! I do hope some changes are made in due course!
It was nice to observe the 2nd pier in person and in full blown sunshine, which makes it look nicer. Some of the apron areas for pier 2 are quite advanced from what I noticed and I would assume after these areas are complete, the airbridge's will be installed, along with the safedock systems as I imagine this would require a lot more room to manoeuvre than there currently is.
Boarding was on time at 16:15 and we departed the stand on schedule at 16:45, luckily with no stopping during our taxi (roll on the new dual taxiway system!) as aircraft movements were quite limited at that time too. It was a surprising runway 23R departure, this became apparent as we took off and I could see works being done on 23L.

So in conclusion, it was a pleasing experience at both ends and I am looking forward to using T2 twice again later this year when hopefully by then the 2nd pier and T2 legacy are fully operational.
Before that though, next week sees the runway hours extended for the summer schedule and the increase in many services to and from MAN.
We are very lucky and spoilt for choice...here's to the rest of 2025!

 

[marni1971]

We flew through T2X this week. The good points - no wait outbound at security. It took longer to walk to one of the scanners than to be processed. All new scanners now. Liquids and electronics stay in the bags. Lots of friendly staff to guide and assist. Same inbound; despite our plane not being the only arrival at 2230 last night we went from gate A1 to landside with luggage in 13 minutes.

There’s also a small WH Smith kiosk on pier 1 now adjacent to A4. On arrival last night, both the dual taxiway works by pier B and the pier 2 works were in full swing under floodlights. Lots of work going on. Biometric entry gates look complete; to the left of the arrivals E gates and separated from these by a nice glass wall. I tried to count and saw maybe 4 of them.

As mentioned recently, the walls to pier 1 are now looking even worse. On both departures and arrivals levels they’re grubby, scuffed and even gouged. They need replacing with something better and more durable. Also as mentioned, the toilets on pier 1 in particular are dirty, stained and way too small for demand. Of note, the toilets had a QR code survey as to ”how can we improve them”. Also there were several signs in the departure lounge saying the legacy pier has no travelators and so is quite a hike. Hopefully a pointer to the originals being replaced.

Legacy bag reclaim is still behind full height walls. Legacy arrivals is a work in progress with no ceiling and lots of scaffolding visible through the windows.

 

[LS@MAN]

Travelled through T2 yesterday (19th April) with jet2. It was around 1.30pm and check in was fairly busy but manageable and efficient with plenty of staff in general. A very swift and efficient bag drop off with jet2 and an even more efficient security experience being directed to the fast track where thankfully my tray was not rejected and I was on the other side only 15mins after my arrival outside T2!
Departures was steady but certainly not as busy as I thought given it’s the Easter weekend. Boarded from gate A1, we were ready early but due to traffic we has to wait for our scheduled departure time. We landed 10mins early in Dalaman after another great jet2 experience Big well done to the crew who were great with the many kids on board, especially with the complimentary cream eggs! (I was very jealous I didn’t get one!)

All round another great trip and efficient processes. Many people on the flight I spoke to were commenting on how much better the queues are now with the new machines and how it’s better than T1. I just hope easyJet do eventually move over, as my next trip in June is with easyJet.

 

[Jerry]

Had a really good flight with BA today from Manchester. It was short but excellent. T3 was very busy as was the Escape lounge and it's a noticeable difference between it and T2. Will do a more comprehensive post after I get back from Finland.

 

[LS@MAN]

Had a really good flight with BA today from Manchester. It was short but excellent. T3 was very busy as was the Escape lounge and it's a noticeable difference between it and T2. Will do a more comprehensive post after I get back from Finland.

T3 does really let Manchester down.
I really hope there is planning in place behind the scenes for improvements, even when BA and Loganair move over to T2, there still won’t be enough room!

 

[Jerry]

T3 does really let Manchester down.
I really hope there is planning in place behind the scenes for improvements, even when BA and Loganair move over to T2, there still won’t be enough room!

It was really busy, really busy. Hopefully they plan to expand it to alleviate some of the crowding.

 

[marni1971]

It was really busy, really busy. Hopefully they plan to expand it to alleviate some of the crowding.

We can hope they turn check in into airside seating once check in moves to T1. That seems to be about it. It’s a mess.

 

[LS@MAN]

We can hope they turn check in into airside seating once check in moves to T1. That seems to be about it. It’s a mess.

Arrivals isn’t much better, the immigration area and 3 baggage carousel’s simply aren’t adequate enough for the amount of passengers, particularly in summer.

 

[marni1971]

Arrivals isn’t much better, the immigration area and 3 baggage carousel’s simply aren’t adequate enough for the amount of passengers, particularly in summer.

Guessing they hope the numbers using it will drop.