Manchester Airport Transformation Programme

[Tho]

Travelled through T1 yesterday on Easyjet to Hamburg. When I first arrived at the airport I checked in at the Departures B area. I don’t really see why they had to move easyJet downstairs when they could have just put Ryanair down there since B was vacant until a few months ago.

I then went through security and went through the new CT scanners. Surprisingly a lot slower than the security halls at T2 as it took around 25 mins to get through. I went through lane 9 which had a very good rejection rate of only 13.3%. What confused me at first was how they 4 lanes were labelled 7-10 but I remember them formerly being labelled 15-18. Have the amount of lanes been reduced in Security A from 14 to 6 due to the new scanners being a lot bigger?

Then I travelled through the departures lounge which felt a lot busier then previous times due to Ryanair passengers. Even now i feel that the entrance to T1 departures looks up to date and I feel the only thing they need to do there is add in a couple more shops.

Ryanair passengers were then moved down the passageway to where the lounges are (Via lots of signs and staff) and then presumably onto the T3 departure lounge. This bit of T1 departures however feels more like a maze and very much needs to be done up.

I departed from Pier C gate 26. I recall someone mentioning on here that one of the gates had been refurbished on Pier C however the only notable difference was that the sign for gate 23 had been replaced with the new Black and White style. I left an image of this for reference. From there i had an on time departure to Hamburg. Sure will be interesting to see how immigration and baggage reclaim will be when I arrive back into T1 tommorow!

 

[LS@MAN]

Travelled through T1 yesterday on Easyjet to Hamburg. When I first arrived at the airport I checked in at the Departures B area. I don’t really see why they had to move easyJet downstairs when they could have just put Ryanair down there since B was vacant until a few months ago.

I then went through security and went through the new CT scanners. Surprisingly a lot slower than the security halls at T2 as it took around 25 mins to get through. I went through lane 9 which had a very good rejection rate of only 13.3%. What confused me at first was how they 4 lanes were labelled 7-10 but I remember them formerly being labelled 15-18. Have the amount of lanes been reduced in Security A from 14 to 6 due to the new scanners being a lot bigger?

Then I travelled through the departures lounge which felt a lot busier then previous times due to Ryanair passengers. Even now i feel that the entrance to T1 departures looks up to date and I feel the only thing they need to do there is add in a couple more shops.

Ryanair passengers were then moved down the passageway to where the lounges are (Via lots of signs and staff) and then presumably onto the T3 departure lounge. This bit of T1 departures however feels more like a maze and very much needs to be done up.

I departed from Pier C gate 26. I recall someone mentioning on here that one of the gates had been refurbished on Pier C however the only notable difference was that the sign for gate 23 had been replaced with the new Black and White style. I left an image of this for reference. From there i had an on time departure to Hamburg. Sure will be interesting to see how immigration and baggage reclaim will be when I arrive back into T1 tommorow!View attachment 32973

Thanks for your trip report.
Departures B has been occupied by EasyJet for a few years now, I have flown with them about 3/4 times since they moved downstairs around 2022/2023.

The gates in pier C are being refurbished, the first was gate 27, which was probably further up so you maybe didn’t see it. I believe the plan is to upgrade the others too.

 

[Tho]

The gates in pier C are being refurbished, the first was gate 27, which was probably further up so you maybe didn’t see it. I believe the plan is to upgrade the others too.

Ahh! I couldn’t remember what gate it was so I wasn’t exactly paying attention to 27! It seems from a video i filmed however that 27 didn’t really look very refurbished for some reason. And the jet bridge definitely didn’t look like it had been refurbished/cleaned as shown

The glass tunnels on Pier C separating departures and arrivals are also incredibly annoying and show just how old that pier is!

 

[marni1971]

The gates in pier C are being refurbished, the first was gate 27, which was probably further up so you maybe didn’t see it. I believe the plan is to upgrade the others too.

Refurbished is a bit of a stretch. A quick tidy up is more apt!

 

[HX3]

there’s nothing tidy about that air bridge, it looks minging. That’s years of muck and no cleaning. That’s one thing I don’t get about the airport, invest millions but general maintenance is lacking. That ongoing maintenance is not a MAN thing it is a UK thing. At Manchester however, there’s a few area were they just need to jet wash periodically and the place would look better.

 

[radar]

That ongoing maintenance is not a MAN thing it is a UK thing.

Exactly right. What we do in this country is neglect everything until it needs replacing, and then expect plaudits for the ‘investment’. It’s hugely wasteful, and everything is filthy and broken as a result.

 

[Manchester Exile]

Morning all. Can I ask the purpose of refurbishing (or tidying up!) the gates in Pier C if T1 is due to close in November? I understand that the aircraft stands on Pier C will continue to be used and passengers bussed over from T2, but I thought that the busses would simply pull up on the apron and allow the passengers to embark the aircraft via steps. Is the plan to have the passengers board from inside Pier C via an airbridge?

 

[LS@MAN]

Refurbished is a bit of a stretch. A quick tidy up is more apt!

Ah I see…I haven’t seen it myself, just what I was informed.

Morning all. Can I ask the purpose of refurbishing (or tidying up!) the gates in Pier C if T1 is due to close in November? I understand that the aircraft stands on Pier C will continue to be used and passengers bussed over from T2, but I thought that the busses would simply pull up on the apron and allow the passengers to embark the aircraft via steps. Is the plan to have the passengers board from inside Pier C via an airbridge?

That would be better than having to enter and exit the pier via lifts/stairs, but it sounds like the plan is to enter pier C and board via a jet bridge.

there’s nothing tidy about that air bridge, it looks minging. That’s years of muck and no cleaning. That’s one thing I don’t get about the airport, invest millions but general maintenance is lacking. That ongoing maintenance is not a MAN thing it is a UK thing. At Manchester however, there’s a few area were they just need to jet wash periodically and the place would look better.

Couldn’t agree more! No pride anymore!
If the plan is to continue using the inside of pier C, I just hope they sort those airbridge’s out!

 

[Tho]

Couldn’t agree more! No pride anymore!
If the plan is to continue using the inside of pier C, I just hope they sort those airbridge’s out!

Hopefully they go all out and replace them with jet bridges like the ones on piers 1 and 2. And hopefully they would replace the jet bridges on stands 301-308 if they ever plan to get refurbished.

Morning all. Can I ask the purpose of refurbishing (or tidying up!) the gates in Pier C if T1 is due to close in November? I understand that the aircraft stands on Pier C will continue to be used and passengers bussed over from T2, but I thought that the busses would simply pull up on the apron and allow the passengers to embark the aircraft via steps. Is the plan to have the passengers board from inside Pier C via an airbridge?

I can only hope pier C is going to be used for easyJet and not other not budget airlines like SAS, Icelandair, Eurowings and even TUI and Jet2!

 

[Trumpington]

Nobody seems to know how passengers will board aircraft parked on Pier C once T1 closes? It remains a mystery! Can't see them replacing airbridges and legacy T2 airbridges if Pier 3 and 4 are still planned. That said, it could be MAG may decide to keep costs down and retain the latter and physically link Pier C to T2. The image on MAG T2 development site actually shows this remember!? The overall net gain in contact stands building Piers 3 and 4 is probably not much more than current arrangement, so what's the point.....might be there thinking? The mother of all master plans is probably decades away and its patch up work for now!

 

[EGCC_MAN]

I can only hope pier C is going to be used for easyJet and not other not budget airlines like SAS, Icelandair, Eurowings and even TUI and Jet2!

We need to keep in mind that EasyJet is one of MAN's core customers, operating a very large programme of flights with 22-23 based aircraft. I know that MAG does appreciate this, but some folks outside the industry seem to think that it is OK to afford a lesser priority to the airport's essential based carriers than to those which visit far less frequently. That thinking is upside down. MAN's best customers must be accommodated to the highest standards possible; they cannot be taken for granted as something to be passed off with inferior service. The only justification for routinely allocating lesser facilities to an airline is if they are charged less in recognition of this. Otherwise, the pain must be shared around fairly, just as we saw with carriers taking turns on remotes when widebody contact stands were in limited supply during Pier 2 construction.

Fortunately, I believe that senior executives at MAG and EasyJet understand this, even if some commentators on forums don't appreciate the finer etiquette of successful business relationships.

 

[Trumpington]

We need to keep in mind that EasyJet is one of MAN's core customers, operating a very large programme of flights with 22-23 based aircraft. I know that MAG does appreciate this, but some folks outside the industry seem to think that it is OK to afford a lesser priority to the airport's essential based carriers than to those which visit far less frequently. That thinking is upside down. MAN's best customers must be accommodated to the highest standards possible; they cannot be taken for granted as something to be passed off with inferior service. The only justification for routinely allocating lesser facilities to an airline is if they are charged less in recognition of this. Otherwise, the pain must be shared around fairly, just as we saw with carriers taking turns on remotes when widebody contact stands were in limited supply during Pier 2 construction.

Fortunately, I believe that senior executives at MAG and EasyJet understand this, even if some commentators on forums don't appreciate the finer etiquette of successful business relationships.

Remember MCR is essentially half a low cost airport. Low cost travel will only increase. MCR will marginally increase its share of long haul possibly over years, but not significantly!

 

[MannyJon]

Aer Lingus on 44 and Bravo 4 this morning (JFK and Bridgetown) thought it lmaybe for strikes tomorrow but at least one gone back out.

 

[joshl257]

I think the idea with Pier C is to provide additional stand capacity during the peak seasons Easter & Summer etc. Plus should MAG get the funding together for Pier 3 part of the D gates will be closed to facilitate construction. So effectively Pier C is a buffer for contact stand capacity. Given that EasyJet use DHL for it's ground handling operations I would imagine using Pier C would be the best option for them. As supposed to be split between the A B and C gates given the fast turn times EasyJet likes to perform.

 

[TheAviator]

We need to keep in mind that EasyJet is one of MAN's core customers, operating a very large programme of flights with 22-23 based aircraft. I know that MAG does appreciate this, but some folks outside the industry seem to think that it is OK to afford a lesser priority to the airport's essential based carriers than to those which visit far less frequently. That thinking is upside down. MAN's best customers must be accommodated to the highest standards possible; they cannot be taken for granted as something to be passed off with inferior service. The only justification for routinely allocating lesser facilities to an airline is if they are charged less in recognition of this. Otherwise, the pain must be shared around fairly, just as we saw with carriers taking turns on remotes when widebody contact stands were in limited supply during Pier 2 construction.

Fortunately, I believe that senior executives at MAG and EasyJet understand this, even if some commentators on forums don't appreciate the finer etiquette of successful business relationships.

Surely this remains somewhat a balancing act, though? Doubtless, the low cost carriers are the more important business relationships for MAG to maintain due to their relative size as a customer. Presumably, MAG also enjoy the prestige of playing host to long haul airlines like Virgin Atlantic, though? Because they offer a business class product, their own customers are likely to kick up much more of a stink if their route from check in to boarding is convoluted, simply because they’ve paid £3,000 for their ticket rather than £300; folks invariably expect to ‘get what you pay for’. I wonder how they rationalise that kind of decision.

 

[LS@MAN]

It’s already been mentioned on this forum that most airlines will share Pier C. There is no special treatment and why should there be!
EasyJet aircraft will be spread across the T2 stands, whether it be Pier 1, 2, legacy T2, remotes or Pier C.

 

[jamesg4568]

Will any of the Pier C gates be renumbered to say E1, E2 etc?? Curious how this is going to work, will passengers be bussed over to what is effectively a satellite to board from the inside?

 

[EGCC_MAN]

Remember MCR is essentially half a low cost airport. Low cost travel will only increase. MCR will marginally increase its share of long haul possibly over years, but not significantly!

I broadly agree, but I'm puzzled as to how this comment relates to my post which is quoted just above it?

 

[TheAviator]

It’s already been mentioned on this forum that most airlines will share Pier C. There is no special treatment and why should there be!
EasyJet aircraft will be spread across the T2 stands, whether it be Pier 1, 2, legacy T2, remotes or Pier C.

Isn’t there a logic that passengers who have paid more for their ticket are more likely to expect a better experience? And more likely to complain if their experience is clunky/convoluted?

I was recently bussed for what felt like miles to a BA 777 at Heathrow. There was a lady complaining loudly about the fact that the experience didn’t really match the £10k price tag of her first class ticket. I’m not sure the loud moaning to other passengers was necessary but I could understand the sentiment of what she was saying.

 

[Scottie Dog]

Here is the latest NATS Supplement covering Manchester's taxiways: