MANCHESTER AIRPORT review : 5 May 2009: by D Higson

Customer Rating : 1/5

We found the facilities for transfer passengers at Manchester Terminal 1 to be abysmal. Having recently returned to Manchester from Florida which meant an overnight flight, therefore no sleep for several hours, we had to transfer from terminal 2 to terminal 1 to fly out to Spain. [A long walk between terminals.] At terminal 1 we found that we could not check-in for the next flight for four and a half hours! Where to spend the time? The only option was the gloomy, draughty Arrivals hall, which had Boots Chemist, one cafe, one Greggs Bakery and a WHS and very hard seating. Being hampered by a luggage trolley containing 4 suitcases, we could not use the cafe facilities as we were constantly being reminded that we should keep our luggage with us at all times for security reasons! And we weren't alone, there was also a gentleman [wheelchair bound] and his wife, [manhandling a trolley of suitcases] who had done the overnight flight from Chicago, who needed the Monarch flight to the Canary Islands. What they must have thought of facilities at Manchester is anyone's guess!! How many millions have they spent on this redevelopment? Perhaps some thought for the passengers transferring flights would have prevented this shambles.

MANCHESTER AIRPORT review : 23 April 2009: by R Chard

Customer Rating : 2/5

They have now found a new way to rip of the traveller - £1 for a plastic bag to put your bits and pieces into at security screening in T3. Masses of overpriced high-end shopping between security and gates, no signs, no straight path through the shops. Avoid it unless you have no choice - unfortunately I don't.

MANCHESTER AIRPORT review : 15 April 2009: by M Taylor

Customer Rating : 3/5

Terminal 1. Improving but still a way to go. Staff were all courteous and cheerful. Not a lot to do before or after security. Tried one restaurant (Giraffe) which was very good. Departure lounge was adequate as was the boarding process. On arrival, a bit of a walk to baggage reclaim. Immigration was quick due to new electronic passport scanning. Bags arrived quickly.

MANCHESTER AIRPORT review : 14 April 2009: by A Gibson

Customer Rating : 1/5

If you have any alternative, avoid MAN at all costs. On a visit to Wales from my home in NYC, I decided to travel thru MAN since it seemed to be the nearest access point. Despite being a relatively small airport I got the impression it had been designed by architects based on the principal of maximum passenger inconvenience blended with the worst of 70s decor. The walk from my plane to Immigration was lengthy and the airport doesn't even appear to possess any travelators (there were none on the departure side of my experience either). I gather the airport is undergoing renovations, but until they are finished I would avoid this place like the plague and just fly to London and then rent a car. Then you get to spend night in London too (don't waste your time with a night in Manchester - it's deadly ugly and there's basically nothing to do there at night unless you want plastic pizza from a chain restaurant).

MANCHESTER AIRPORT review : 26 March 2009: by L Lacey

Customer Rating : 1/5

Manchester Airport is undergoing a multi million pound redevelopment of it's terminals. Unfortunately, to noones's benefit. Terminal 1 used to have a fantastic landside shopping and dining area. No more. It has all been moved to airside. Therefore, passengers like me who use the on site Airport hotels no longer have access to these facilities. Terminal 2 is the same. The landside facilities have been wiped out. You now have to go to the arrivals section. I must say, the facilities here are very limited and gloomy. The walkway from the station to Terminal 3 has been closed. You now have a 15 minute walk through a maze or wait for a bus for up to 20 minutes.

MANCHESTER AIRPORT review : 11 March 2009: by Christopher Pickin

Customer Rating : 1/5

Hopeless baggage handling. There were about six ski bags going round and coning off on the corners - pushed back on by passengers, but they took up so much of the rack that they were not allowing anything else to come out! After Zurich, the whole place seems tatty, walking distances too long and similarly the passport control queues.

MANCHESTER AIRPORT review : 16 February  2009: by Bill Atkins

Customer Rating : 2/5

T2 a disgrace. Escalator between departures and arrivals not working. Lifts filthy. Terminal full of construction areas. Toilets lacking and those there are filthy and old. The shops are in fine condition by comparison. Manchester should be truly ashamed of giving so awful an impression to visitors.

MANCHESTER AIRPORT review : 26 January 2009: by S Pathirana

Customer Rating : 3/5

I have used Terminals 1,2 and 3 in the past few years. Standards definitely slipping all over, prices keep going up in the airport. Nothing special so to speak of. Arrival is very good, though, both immigration and baggage claim are never a hassle. Lounges aren't of very good standard.

MANCHESTER AIRPORT review : 19 January 2009: by P v Niessen

Customer Rating : 2/5

Horrendous experience. Things go from bad to worse at Manchester Airport. After the recent improvements in terminal one there is even less seating. What there is, is filthy and has not been refurbished like the shops. The huge duty free shop you are forced to walk through is highly annoying - as are the queues for security and immigration. This is not a shopping center - it is a public amenity.

MANCHESTER AIRPORT review : 19 January 2009: by Bill Atkins

Customer Rating : 1/5

Took delivery of rental car in T1 - only 1 lift out of 3 working between arrivals/departure/train/car park/rental cars. I suppose there is no money for this kind of repair, since it has all been spent on the shopping facilities. T3 security on departure is working better now - I predict that one day it will be as smooth as it was before the addition of 21st century technology. Would be 3 stars except for the lift fiasco.

MANCHESTER AIRPORT review : 13 January 2009: by Ian Morley

Customer Rating : 2/5

I have used the airport many times during the last year and have been disappointed each time. The new T1 set-up is awful. Despite the continued construction (that never seems to progress), the rule where you have to negotiate your way through the duty free shop whilst being accosted by annoying and bored sales staff is stupid. I am a business traveller and want to get to the gate asap - not spend twenty minutes trying to find the departure lounge. The seating is a disgrace - broken and dirty seats, others covered in rubbish that remains unmoved. The toilets stink and many are broken. They have removed the ability to walk between T3 and T1 - it is now replaced by a bus. So it now takes twice as long to get to the train station and stand around in the cold with all the smokers waiting for a bus to turn up. I don't know what the strategic plan is for Man to improve customer service, but it simply isn't working. At least they have got rid of that horrendous smoking area in T3 - it made the whole departure lounge totally disgusting.

MANCHESTER AIRPORT review : 6 January 2009: by Sam Nagy

Customer Rating : 3/5

T1 - A construction site. The terminal was packed and hepatic, and limited airside shops. The only plus side is the new security, but this has wiped out the public landside seating area/shops. T2 - Modern, efficient, and easy to use. Again, the new security is very efficient, but during the terminal modernization, they've permanently closed the public landside shops/cafe. T3 - Again very modern, all though the security line was hell. The airside area is also quite boring, but great views of the northern runway.

MANCHESTER AIRPORT review : 19 December 2008 : by R Watson

Customer Rating : 3/5

Used T2 Nov and Dec - quick check in with Emirates Business class and new security area - up escalator and through very quickly -usual crowds in concourse but business lounge ok except for very poor toilets

MANCHESTER AIRPORT review : 2 December 2008 : by Vincent Cafferky

Customer Rating : 4/5

Arrived Manchester Airport Terminal Two after overnight flight from St. Lucia. No air bridge so bus transfer to terminal. Quickly through Immigration (travelling with girlfriend who does not have EU passport). Immigration very polite and efficient. One piece of luggage already on carousel and other quickly after. To Departures to be collected by waiting greeter. Better than using arrivals car park!! Departure via Terminal One to Dublin using Ryanair, already checked in on line. Through Security by scanner to open gate and straight through without any queue on early Saturday morning. Improvements since last flight in July. Complaints about going through shops seem like complaining for the sake of it. Good to see what is on offer. Return from Dublin very efficient even with long tour of airport to Baggage. Return to St Lucia via Terminal Two. Great improvements and further more hoped for but why is there no restaurant to sit down and have waiter service for a meal? When carrying even small amount of hand luggage it is hard to also carry a tray of food. Both terminals used have seen improvements over the past year and continuous changes are in place. Still has the local airport feel but with many long haul destinations.

MANCHESTER AIRPORT review : 28 November 2008 : by K Halouska

Customer Rating : 1/5

I have travelled through MAN Terminal 1 in the early summer and again last week. There is still no improvement whatsoever. Check-in desks at multiple levels. Security is straight forward. However, having negotiated that, you have to zigzag your way through perfume counters into a crowded and ugly terminal building (as everyone on this page comments - it use to be so pleasant, spacious and light a few years ago). Even worse, going down the pier to ones gate you have to go up and down stairs, no escalators. It is even worse arriving. Why have they opted for this? Other piers in European and American airports are open for arriving and departing passengers. They have really ruined this terminal. In a Manchester airport magazine they were signing its praises. Just close the terminal, bulldoze it, and build a new facility.

MANCHESTER AIRPORT review : 23 November 2008 : by Leo Enticknap

Customer Rating : 3/5

Quite a long walk from the railway station to Terminal 2, but there are travelators. Queues for luggage drop and security on departure and immigration and baggage collection on arrival were all minimal. Once airside there were no luggage trolleys available and the departure area was very crowded, with long queues at all the shops and restaurants. Large numbers of drunk and abusive passengers waiting for holiday flights also made the airside wait a stressful and unpleasant experience. I'd only use Manchester again if the tickets were a lot cheaper than a flight from Leeds or Teesside (which was why I went from MAN this time).

MANCHESTER AIRPORT review : 9 November 2008 : by Gavin Stewart

Customer Rating : 4/5

Some quick tips on the new Manchester security procedures. You pop your boarding pass in the slot, the gate opens, you go through. If you've got an electronic BP (eg internet check in), you hold the bar code over the screen; the gate opens. If all this is too much for you, some old-style human beings are on hand to take you through manually. If that is still too much for you, I suggest you stay at home and avoid air travel altogether. Whilst awaiting your turn, you may encounter the occasional queue. Welcome to 2008.

MANCHESTER AIRPORT review : 6 November 2008 : by Bill Atkins

Customer Rating : 1/5

New T3 security has everyone going through barriers with boarding pass scanners (which have never worked well anywhere else, so MAN decided to give them a try) with staff to tell you what to do when they don't work and don't enjoy doing this as it is meant to put them out of a job if they ever do work. Then endless martialling in waiting lanes -the backwards-and-forwards type so favoured by airports - until you arrive at security totally stressed and bemused. Just when we thought Manchester could not get worse, they have found yet another way to make it less enjoyable.

MANCHESTER AIRPORT review : 5 November 2008 : by Leslie Cadwallader

Customer Rating : 3/5

First time through T1 in several years and found it hard to recognise where we were at times. That said, our experience seems to have been better than some of your recent correspondents. We used the Shuttle Car Park for the first time and the instructions / directions provided worked perfectly (except the barriers were not in use so anyone could, theoretically, have driven in and out for nothing). Check-in on the ground floor was easy and security was swift and efficient, but this was at about 4.30 a.m. I agree that it seems odd that exit from security takes you straight into shops, but eventually we found ourselves in an area we more or less recognised. We even managed to find seats! Given that boarding gates are not now designated at check-in and flight departures are still not announced, there seems to be a serious shortage of screens around the place, but perhaps more will be provided when the alterations are complete. More enforced passage through shopping area to access gate also seemed odd and couldn't understand why the presentation of a boarding card was necessary even to buy a newspaper. Return through T1 was fine. In spite of a long taxi-ing to stand and bus transfer to terminal, it took us just an hour from touchdown to exiting in our car onto the M56. Plus point? Everyone was polite and helpful, especially through the new style security and passport control areas. Most pointless innovation? Yet another shopping opportunity directly on exit from customs!

MANCHESTER AIRPORT review : 30 October 2008 : by R Hughes

Customer Rating : 1/5

Terminal 2 departure facilities now exclude accompanying family from the concourse shop and restaurant facilities. I was helping my daughter with her three young children waiting for Singapore Airlines assistance (they were very good). You have to descend to the minimalist arrivals area - cold, dingy, dirty, inhospitable, poor catering. No departure information. 'not my fault' response from customer service staff. Don't go there. Say your farewells elsewhere. Manchester doesn't want you.

MANCHESTER AIRPORT review : 21 October 2008 : by P Finn

Customer Rating : 1/5

Agree with all negative points. T1 what a disgrace. They had the chance to make a real effort here. Instead they discard the once land side area and create a security area that leads all passengers through the duty free shop. As a result everyone roams around aimlessly to find a way out. Insufficient seating areas and still no drinking water fountains. Toilet facilities still the same disgrace and security staff the most unprofessional and rude at times. They seem to have spent money on new check in screens, baggage belt screens that promise you arrival times of your baggage and many new shops and cafes. When arriving, passengers are forced to walk up and down stairs more than once to reach the immigration area. Lots of airports worldwide show it up. Similar bad experiences in T2 which is a relatively young terminal. Quite a disaster by poor management I would think. Maybe destroy and start the terminal again or one of the efficient worldwide airports should put in a bid to take over the whole airport!

MANCHESTER AIRPORT review : 21 October 2008 : by Michael A Tasker

Customer Rating : 2/5

On arriving at terminal One and knowing that as a disabled passenger I would have to use an airport chair and due to health and safety regs I would not have my own chair brought to the plane-there were 11 disabled passengers. ONE airport handler came. I was first and the chair he brought me was almost on the floor. He insisted I put me legs on the supports. I explained that my disability was in my knees and this would cause me great discomfort. He said he would not move me until I did this. In great pain I was shoved up to the boarding gate and left there while he went back for the other 10! My wife had to struggle and get me to the carousel and when my chair arrived it was damaged! I took it to pieces and repaired it to enable me to continue. So much for wheelchair assistance in terminal one!

MANCHESTER AIRPORT review : 16 October 2008 : by R Naylor

Customer Rating : 1/5

Manchester airport Terminal 1. Following an overnight flight from Calgary Canada the plane arrived on time at 07.45 hrs. We did not receive our luggage until 09.45 hrs due to frequently announced "operational problems" Due to this we missed a connecting flight and had to make alternative arrangements which of course were not covered by insurance.