Using Manchester Airport (Questions & Reviews)

[LS@MAN]

My latest return trip through MAN.
Arriving via Brussels into T2 on Saturday 8th April at 10.20am, landed on time, docked at stand 101, so only a 5 min walk to immigration. Noticed en route though the walls are scuffed and have a lot of marks visible already.
No queue at passport control and all e gates were in use. I was on the M56 within 15 mins of landing.

Return flight this morning to Carcassonne with Ryanair from T3, arrived at 5am for a 6.25am departure. I feel much more comfortable arriving within only 90mins of departure now across all 3 terminals, but I'm sure if depends on the time of day.
I was through to departures with a coffee in hand by 5.15am and at 5.35am the gate announcement was made, I made my way to gate 54 where boarding was already underway, flight only around 50% full to my surprise, but that meant for a 10min early departure and we arrived 15mins early to the lovely French spring sunshine!

All good overall, impressed with the consistency of the security and immigration queues being well within 15mins of the target times, just some cleanliness issues in T2.

I haven't been to T1 for quite some months now, but I have a trip planned with Easyjet mid May, so I'll be sure to report back then too.
Meanwhile, my next trip to MAN sees me arriving this Thursday morning (20th) with KLM into T2.

 

[EGCC_MAN]

I passed through T1 outbound on the morning of 12th April headed for Stockholm Arlanda on SAS2548. No issues with formalities; security experience relatively brisk and stress-free. In the departure lounge airside around 08:00. Good service at Starbucks (or was it Costa??) coffee shop ... the interminable queues seen at catering outlets last year were no longer in evidence. Of course, our timings were towards the end of the first wave peak, so things had eased off somewhat. SAS2548 departed late due to weather restrictions on the day - made for a particularly exciting sprint transfer at Arlanda, but that is not for this thread. Just made the onward SAS A321 flight to Oslo (OY-KBE). The MAN-ARN A320 flight (OY-KAN) looked full from my vantage point.

In late evening, we departed Sandefjord Torp for our return flight to MAN T3 with Ryanair UK aboard G-RUKD. Flight left Norway around one hour late. RUK3227 looked full, though it is difficult to be certain, as there were lots of young children aboard and one can't see their heads above the seatbacks. Certainly a good load anyway. It was notable that many of the passengers aboard appeared to be SE Asian, especially the larger families. I wonder whether China / Hong Kong to Oslo and on from Sandefjord to MAN with Ryanair has been identified by some as a particularly cost-effective way to route? Provided that one does not buy food or drink whilst on the ground in Norway, of course!!!

One particularly amusing moment as a lady of Chinese appearance told off her son (aged about 13). He wasn't having it. "You can't talk to me like that. I'm getting hairs in manly places now. You must address me as an adult!" The mother's retort was in either Mandarin or Cantonese, but it was pretty loud - so we got the general idea! That lad will go far.

The flight landed at MAN amidst a fierce squall with extremely heavy rain deluging the place, so kudos to the crew for an excellent landing in those conditions. G-RUKD parked on stand 17 on the Southern Front; seeing B738's using that stand is relatively new to me, but it works so good on them. As stand 17 exits onto the domestic corridor, international passengers are bussed from gate to the T3 customs entrance. Arrival on stand was timed at 00:35 [Thursday] and only one COBUS was available at that time. Half the passengers left on it's first trip, the remainder sprinted out to it through the heavy rain when it returned to aircraft side around ten minutes later. The drop-off brings you out right by T3 UK Border. No queue to speak of there, through and away home at walking pace. Good trip. No issues at MAN.

 

[LS@MAN]

Came through T3 earlier arriving at 3pm for a 5.10pm departure, biggest queue was at check in for BA, who I think Menzies are responsible for? I had already checked in online but had to queue to drop my bag off, unfortunately the I was stood there for 1hr & 5mins!!
Security was a breeze 5 mins in total and then even time for a coffee departures fairly busy but manageable.
Flight landed 15 mins late but turned around quickly so departed on time.

Lots of delayed departures today but I know the french strikes are a big factor!
Otherwise the overall process across all 3 terminals is immensely better!
Well done to all involved!

 

[KARFA]

Yes it is Menzies for BA.

In terms of queues, it is very much about how many people BA will pay for - which many not be enough to keep wait times reasonable.

 

[Curious Pax]

To update my own query, sailed through in 10 minutes at 0450 this morning. We were directed down to Security 2 in the basement to achieve this! Hopefully the remainder of the trip will be as smooth.

 

[LS@MAN]

I flew from T1 on Tuesday 9th May. Arrived at 12.15pm for a 14.10 departure. Security was a breeze, quiet time anyway, only 3 lanes open but within 5 mins I was through!
Departure areas of T1 busy but queues were sufficiently managed in most of the food & beverage outlets I witnessed.
I was sat near the seating area by Pret and I could clearly see the area where passengers with assistance were sat, plenty of staff on hand and shout out’s from said staff to passengers who were being taken to the gate for the flights, all very efficient.
My gate was called half hour before departure, it was gate 10, my first time in pier B for a few years, certainly not missed it, but all fairly efficient and departure was 5mins ahead of schedule.

My German colleague was earlier that day departing from T1 on the Frankfurt flight and even though he noted the old infrastructure of T1, he was complementary on the staff numbers and organisation overall!

My destination was Paris Orly and believe me, I would rather an overcrowded T1 and Pier B than that disorganised airport! It was absolute carnage at the B gates!

 

[LS@MAN]

Flew out on Sunday 21st May with TUI to Zante.
Arrived at T2 at 4am for a 6.35am departure, the queue was almost to the station in the skylink, however, was constantly moving so it worked out around 45 mins in the queue but there seemed to be plenty of customer service staff on hand to manage the queuing, disappointed that Swissport didn’t have enough staff on hand though, people being called out of the queue to check in their cases as their flights were about to start boarding.
More room in the check in hall now though with the demolition of the stairs and lifts to the old security hall and some of the airline desks also have gone next to entrance A.

Security was a breeze though, 10 mins from entrance to exit, so even time for a coffee before boarding.
Gate 207 for boarding at 5.40am and an on time departure at 6.35am.

Overall, a good experience for first wave departure, minus the Swissport staff situation.

 

[LS@MAN]

Here is my latest report from T2, after a holiday in Zante.

Arriving at the airport on Sunday 21st May around 4am, after being dropped off outside Zone A, we could already see the TUI queue well into the skylink corridor, we joined the queue near to the station entrance of the skylink, however, it was continuously moving, so after around 30 mins we were at the automatic bag drop desk and cases were checked in. Plenty of staff on the bag drop machines, but only around 5/6 at the desks. I wasn't expecting a queue like this to be honest, I can only assume the shear number of flights and staff numbers at Swissport are still not at pre-covid levels as to the reasons?!

Security was a breeze, 10 mins at most! Departure area fairly busy but no big queues at the shops or F&B outlets. Gate 207 was called at 5.40am. Boarding was started promptly and we used the stairs to board which was a nice change at a contact gate, not sure if this airbridge was in use but as the weather was beautiful, it was no problem!
Departed on time at 6.35am via 05L with a nice view of the city to our left

Returned Tuesday 30th May landing at 4.30pm and parked at stand 107. A bit of a trek to passport control but no queue and cases already on the carousel it was 40mins from getting off the aircraft until in the minibus at T2 car park directly outside arrivals, so all good!

A few observations during the walk from the aircraft to passport control, plenty of marks on the floor and walls, can't be helped sometimes but it also depends on the type and quality of materials used!
A few dirty areas outside of T2 arrivals as well, near to where the smoking areas are, although I noticed a lot of people smoking where they wanted to!!

 

[LS@MAN]

Just arrived into MAN T2 from Amsterdam with KLM.
During our decent the pilot actually announced our gate, never known this before for a flight into Manchester, only normally the big connecting airports like CDG or AMS for example.
Anyway it was gate 110, but I’m sure at the time he wasn’t aware that there was an A330 Jet2 Air Tanker occupying the stand until around 15 mins after we landed. No big problem, happens sometimes.
Long walk to immigration, 5 mins there and straight outside.
Without taking the waiting time on the aircraft into account, it was around 20 mins from leaving the aircraft via both doors (bonus!) to being outside T2!

Had a walk along the skylink, plenty of hoardings around the travelator’s with signs on them indicating their replacement, along with signs informing passengers about the various new facilities we will eventually get in the refurbished T2! Nice to see!

 

[LS@MAN]

Arrived from Carcassonne with Ryanair on Thursday at 6.15pm, 12 mins from arrival at gate until outside T3! A record for me I think!
Passport control quick and the barriers (can’t think of the correct terminology) are much better organised when queuing.
So another great experience.
But I noticed only 3 carrousels in T3 arrivals…have I missed something? I would hate to see late evening arrivals here with all the Ryanair flights!

 

[Jerry]

On Wednesday (16/8/23) I travelled from Manchester Airport for the first time. I flew with Easyjet from Terminal 1 to Amsterdam and i thought i'd share my experience of my journey through the airport and back.

My journey started in Leeds so I used the train to get to the airport and used the direct service from Leeds to Manchester Airport with Trans Pennine Express which was a good way to get to the airport, in all it took 1hour and a half and the return cost was under £40 which was cheaper than paying for car parking + fuel and there was a nice covered walkway from the airport station into Terminal 1.
Going through security was pretty quick even though it was very busy and the staff seemed friendly enough. The terminal itself was busy but it didn't seem overcrowded and i was able to get some lunch and grab a spot by a window to watch the aircraft taxi past and that did show the variety of airlines that serve Manchester, though i will add the terminal was a bit warm for my liking.
My flight was due to depart at 14.50 but was delayed (the Captain said they were delayed in Malta earlier on) by about an hour. Boarding was a bit chaotic at the gate as the staff did boarding but not boarding and had everyone waiting on stairs but opened up a different door for the Speedy boarders which meant they ended up boarding after or with the general boarders to much well frustration from some in the queue! Eventually though we boarded our aircraft which was G-EZWI a 10 years old A320 which was in a good condition with plenty of legroom and we were off to Amsterdam. The flight took about an hour and was pretty uneventful, pretty much full but i was lucky that the seat next to me was free for the flight. We landed at Amsterdam and then had a long walk through to immigration to get stamped into the Netherlands and EU.
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My return was the next day, after spending the morning planespotting on the Panorama Terrace at the airport i headed through security to catch my flight back to Manchester with Easyjet (15.10 departure), after a long walk to concourse H and a less chaotic boarding (the flight was delayed by about 20 minutes this time) G-EZDL a 15 years old A319 flew me back to Manchester. This flight was a bit less comfortable then the flight over as there was less legroom and the whole flight was full, no spare seat this time.
After an hour we landed in Manchester and preceded pretty quickly through immigration (e-gates were used) and i was at the train station about 16.20 to catch the train back to Leeds.
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In all I had a good trip through Manchester, to be honest the airport pleasantly surprised me in that the experience was positive as I've not heard good things regarding the experience of travelling through it, maybe i was lucky this time! Or maybe the airport gets unfair criticism? I will be travelling through it again just not until February, i'll be using TUI for a trip to Iceland and i believe they use the revamped Terminal 2 so it'll be interesting to see the difference then and i'll be flying with TUI for the first time so it'll be interesting to compare them with the likes of Jet2, Easyjet and Ryanair.

 

[mullion]

All the complaints seem to be from scousers as they love to moan about Manchester

 

[Silvercity]

How do you know that then ?

 

[mullion]

from another forum not this one

 

[Silvercity]

Sounds a statement without any basis.

 

[Seasider]

Come on Mullion, there was no mention about any complaints, but you have to come out with a blanket statement. Totally unnecessary, by the way I'm a Yorkshireman.

 

[Jerry]

All the complaints seem to be from scousers as they love to moan about Manchester

I'm sure they do and I'm sure many who complain are from Manchester as well.

 

[mullion]

Don`t mean to upset anyone but I have received a few really nasty posts when I have made any comments about Manchester on this other group which I will not go any further

 

[KARFA]

Lob in the grenade, make a run for the door, it’s a timeless strategy

 

[mullion]

Should have said it was a Manchester forum not Liverpool