Manchester: Airport Security, Immigration & Border Control

[Aviador]

@Llandudno I'm not sure there was a need to reference Liverpool. @Carl0927 had a flight from Manchester and so decided to comment in the Manchester forum. Likewise, if you flew from Liverpool, your comments would be welcome in the Liverpool forum. Don't take it so personally in future.

 

[Silvercity]

Problems reported at terminal one today, as per Manchester Evening News

Pictures show chaos at Manchester Airport as passengers complain of 'mile long queues'​

Holidaymakers have told the M.E.N they expect to be stuck for hours

Queues at Manchester Airport Terminal One (Image: ASP)

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Passengers arriving at Manchester Airport have described chaos amid reports of mile-long queues this afternoon (February 25).

Pictures show hundreds of people tightly packed together as they attempt to get to passport control at the airport's Terminal One.


Holidaymakers have told the Manchester Evening News they expect to be stuck for hours.


One said the queues are currently the length of the T1 departure pier - which he estimates to be around a mile long.

He said he hadn't received any formal information from staff at the airport about the reason for the delay.

Queues at Terminal One (Image: ASP)
Another passenger posted on Twitter claiming he'd heard a member of staff telling crew to stop telling people to depart planes arriving at the airport.

Have you had any issues with delays at the airport? Let us know in the comments section.




"There are far worse things happening in the world now but, I'm stood in a more than 200m queue to get into arrivals at Manchester airport," he said.

"Heard a member of staff on the phone say "you'll have to stop people getting off, there's nowhere for them to go."

What's the latest traffic and travel information where you live? Find out by adding your postcode.


Another man wrote: "Welcome to Manchester Airport. Can border controls and security get any worse. MAG needs to sort this out."

Another passenger said: "37 minutes to get through passport control, to then find luggage still hasn’t appeared on the belt!!

"Flight landed an hour ago! Worst airport in history!!"

Passengers say they expect to be stuck for hours (Image: ASP)
Manchester Airport have responded to people on Twitter diverting their complaints to UK Border Force





They responded: "Manchester Airport apologises for the delay you experienced in the Immigration hall.


"UK Border Force manages this part of the customer journey and if you wish to make a formal complaint, please contact [email protected]. Thank you."


The reason for the delay has not yet been confirmed.

 

[paully]

I suppose Manchester Airport on this occasion are sort of right..If Border Force don`t staff up and I suspect a lot have left during Covid, then these scenes will be repeated in peak season, close to everywhere..We last arrived back at T2 last November, admittedly late evening, but with only 2 staff on duty but loads of e gates that Manc airport staff were busy trying to get people to use..They should, instead, be pressuring the HO to provide proper staffing instead of trying to make their cost cutting and inactivity work.

 

[Llandudno]

Problems reported at terminal one today, as per Manchester Evening News

​

Or you could have been at Heathrow yesterday with the major IT issue which has had knock on delays into today.

Liverpool airport had an issue a few weeks ago with not enough staff to de ice the aircraft.

A flight had to divert from Leeds as it was closed for the night a few weeks ago too.

Not saying issues shouldn’t be addressed but the Moral of the story is that no airport is immune from issues but we are well aware of your dislike for Manchester, you have made that view abundantly clear across several platforms, so it’s a shame you don’t comment on good news but instead highlight the bad news?

(again I’m not saying bad news shouldn’t be reported, but when it seems just 2-3 posters are responsible for the majority of content on this sub forum, it’s a shame we mainly get extra posters on here when it’s to highlight bad news?)

 

[Silvercity]

Or you could have been at Heathrow yesterday with the major IT issue which has had knock on delays into today.

Liverpool airport had an issue a few weeks ago with not enough staff to de ice the aircraft.

A flight had to divert from Leeds as it was closed for the night a few weeks ago too.

Not saying issues shouldn’t be addressed but the Moral of the story is that no airport is immune from issues but we are well aware of your dislike for Manchester, you have made that view abundantly clear across several platforms, so it’s a shame you don’t comment on good news but instead highlight the bad news?

(again I’m not saying bad news shouldn’t be reported, but when it seems just 2-3 posters are responsible for the majority of content on this sub forum, it’s a shame we mainly get extra posters on here when it’s to highlight bad news?)

Or could it be your Manchester Airport rose tinted spectacles maybe. I am also aware of your dislike to Liverpool Airport, from your regular digs. I have been subject a lot of unpleasant comments from MAN supporters over the time ive been a member on here and its quite unacceptable and illogical.

 

[lfc84]

rather than people claiming there's a bias for or against any particular airport, i think it would be sensible to reflect upon:

- which airport(s) are in the press
- how oftern they are in the press
- what are the issues being reported

A week ago I deprted from MAN T1. Security queue was around 5 mins (around 11am).
Yesterday I landed at another MAG airport - STN - I paid for fast track passport control but had I not I estimate the queue would have been around 5-10 mins.

I was dreading MAN security queue but as it happened it was a non event. Arriving into MAN has always been rather slow in my opinion (pre pandemic) so I do actively try to avoid MAN international arrivals. That said my longest ever UK international arrival was from LIS two years ago into LHR T2 - which took around 70 minutes.

This morning I departed from LGW. The app said security queue was 7 mins. We opted for the family queue and it took 20 mins (bad choice!).
Monday I will be flying from BRS 🙂

 

[Llandudno]

Or could it be your Manchester Airport rose tinted spectacles maybe. I am also aware of your dislike to Liverpool Airport, from your regular digs. I have been subject a lot of unpleasant comments from MAN supporters over the time ive been a member on here and its quite unacceptable and illogical.

which regular digs have I made? I use Liverpool quite often and have no issue with the place, I use whichever airport serves my needs best. Back when I was on other forums, particularly NWAN, I actually was the thread starter for some new airlines threads. But if you want to see that as me being purely negative, or having ‘digs’ as you say, then that’s your prerogative and not sure how you expect me to repsond to that comment in the face of the counter evidence.

But the comments about rose tinted spectacles, which is aimed as a personal comment towards me, when trying to cry fowl of comments directed at yourself, does have a sense of irony. As for other posters, they are not my responsibility nor do I speak for them so frankly I don’t know what you expect me to do with that information.

 

[Land23R]

I've no problem with stories that reflect badly on the airport - even if they are not directly responsible - being reported as long as they are balanced and objective. But the standard of journalism so often is as poor as the ridiculous comments they quote by some of the passengers. That report contained this: -

"One said the queues are currently the length of the T1 departure pier - which he estimates to be around a mile long."

Any reporter worth their salt would query that rather than just repeating it.

The bottom line is there was a problem - not unique to MAN - but an irritation when it happens. But a bit more detail and background would have been useful to give a fuller picture.
Were the e-gates available at passport control? If so, how many, and were they functioning properly, or were passports being rejected and pax forced back into the other queue?
How many Border Control desks were open and manned?
Is extra documentation is still having to be checked and causing delays if it is not in order?
How long did the problem last - an hour, 3 hours, or longer?
Had there been a rush of arrivals at T1 in a short space of time?

There has been widespread reports on various forums that there have been major staffing issues at MAN - with the Airports own departments, notably security, - with handling agents and with Border Control. Whether this is also a problem to the same extent at other large airports like LHR, LGW or STN, I've no idea.
But MAN needs to be addressing and resolving these issues, working with the other agencies at the airport, as a matter of urgency. Hopefully, it is.

It might also be helpful if MAN could develop a relationship with the M.E.N. that might enable reporting of this sort of situation to be less sensational and more informative.

 

[Silvercity]

which regular digs have I made? I use Liverpool quite often and have no issue with the place, I use whichever airport serves my needs best. Back when I was on other forums, particularly NWAN, I actually was the thread starter for some new airlines threads. But if you want to see that as me being purely negative, or having ‘digs’ as you say, then that’s your prerogative and not sure how you expect me to repsond to that comment in the face of the counter e
But the comments about rose tinted spectacles, which is aimed as a personal comment towards me, when trying to cry fowl of comments directed at yourself, does have a sense of irony. As for other posters, they are not my responsibility nor do I speak for them so frankly I don’t know what you expect me to do with that information.

You do make regular digs, It's quite predictable . Therefore I'd prefer if just did not comment at all to any of my posts at all, then we might both be happier.

 

[Scottie Dog]

Enough of this sniping please gentlemen - from both sides. F4A has always prided itself on being a polite forum and I will leave it at that.

Thank you.

 

[A400]

All airports have their issues.

Hopfully Manchester airport and the security services will get this sorted before the busy summer season. As if it’s like that now and nothings done then it could be chaotic.

They had better sort it as I’m flying from Manchester this summer.

 

[Aviador]

Just for the record @Llandudno, you are free to post any news related item to any part of the forum however controversial it may be. ( as is @Carl0927 ) I'd like to think we can discuss issues raised in a sensible way here.

The correct way to submit a news item mentioned in the press is to copy the news page url into the posting thread. A fair use snippet along with a link to the news item will display once submitted.

Out of interest Manchester forumers, is the MEN part of the same group as the YEP as it seems to be regularly running negative news stories about Manchester Airport in a similar way to the YEP about Leeds Bradford Airport?

In relation to this specific news story, this is Immigration related so UK Border Force and not the airport is responsible for the delays.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Out of interest Manchester forumers, is the MEN part of the same group as the YEP as it seems to be regularly running negative news stories about Manchester Airport in a similar way to the YEP about Leeds Bradford Airport?

The Manchester Evening News is owned by Reach plc (formerly Trinity Mirror) that has around 240 regional newspaper titles including digital versions, and a number of national newspapers including the Daily and Sunday Mirror, Sunday People, Daily and Sunday Express, Daily Star, Sunday Mail and others.

I've commented before in other parts of F4A on the unreliable articles that are often a mark of Reach Plc regional titles. Much of the output comes through surfing the net for 'stories' especially in their digital versions. They then publish without checking context so a distorted story appears. We in the West Country and South Wales (where Reach owns a number of newspapers including digital versions) are well aware of their lack of knowledge when it comes to writing about the local airports.

As far as I'm aware The Yorkshire Evening Post is part of JPI Media (itself owned by National World Plc) that has around 200 newspaper and web titles including The Scotsman.

 

[KARFA]

To get back to the point, the recent reports of security and immigration at MAN are pretty accurate of the usual experience at that airport unfortunately. There is a reason the airport has such a poor reputation in the UK. Perhaps once T2 is completed things may improve, although a lot of the problem for security is inconsistent and rude staff so that seems a separate issue which is solvable now.

 

[marni1971]

Sadly the MEN over the last decade or so has turned into the worst kind of sub tabloid trash written by kids whos only skill seem to be trawling Twitter for non news stories and have an aversion to fact checking. Case in point being the “mile long departure pier” - there’s two T1 piers and neither are close to a mile long.

To rebalance the article, I’ve posted elsewhere our experiences last year-

Terminal one September; outbound 11 minutes through security, inbound 9 minutes for immigration and collecting case.

Terminal two November; outbound again 11 minutes. Inbound 12 minutes for immigration and collecting case.

Yes, there are problems and conversely we had the opposite experience. I’ve also been critical of the design of T2X. But good news is no news for the MEN.

 

[KARFA]

Sure, and I can only speak from my own 30 odd experiences departing MAN last year all from T1 (and many more in previous years). I am afraid my experiences have ranged from just about ok, to very poor.

The terminal itself isn't really fit for purpose anymore and already struggling now even though we haven't got to peak season. This was from someone I know last week, boarding BA, FR, and EK A380 flights all at the same time in T1 pier B.

 

[marni1971]

Sure, and I can only speak from my own 30 odd experiences departing MAN last year all from T1 (and many more in previous years). I am afraid my experiences have ranged from just about ok, to very poor.

The terminal itself isn't really fit for purpose anymore and already struggling now even though we haven't got to peak season. This was from someone I know last week, boarding BA, FR, and EK A380 flights all at the same time in T1 pier B.

Pier B hasn’t been fit for for purpose for a long time. Shame the rebuild proposal fell through around ten years ago.

Don’t get me wrong - there’s plenty wrong with MAN. I was pleasantly shocked with our experiences last year. But the MEN click bait reporting based on unchecked social media annoys me.

 

[Silvercity]

When I've used Manchester Airport my main experience is from using terminal 1, the reception by security check staff I have found there as not been very good, and on occasion very rude, so much so my partner complained to the supervisor because of the way I was spoken to. I haven't used terminal 2 much, but did when I flew with Ethiopian a few years ago and the experience was much better there. Similarly terminal 3 wasn't too bad, certainly no rude staff at that terminal.

 

[marni1971]

When I've used Manchester Airport my main experience is from using terminal 1, the reception by security check staff I have found there as not been very good, and on occasion very rude, so much so my partner complained to the supervisor because of the way I was spoken to. I haven't used terminal 2 much, but did when I flew with Ethiopian a few years ago and the experience was much better there. Similarly terminal 3 wasn't too bad, certainly no rude staff at that terminal.

Absolutely. Some of the staff need reminding they are front line ambassadors. We all have bad days but customer interaction is part of their job description.

 

[KARFA]

i have seen more reports of poor security wait times from friends over the last week, and now this where the security queue is stretching down the skylink

https://twitter.com/x/status/1501493954906574848

i am grateful i don't have another flight departing MAN until the end of the month. the place is absolutely beyond help.