Manchester Airport

✅ Trip Verified | I had the misfortune to travel through Manchester Airport two weeks in a row. Never again! Last week I arrived from Geneva and missed my train from Man airport as the queue at passport control was at least 1km long. For the return flight, security held me up at least 20 minutes over a couple of small items that they insisted were "gels" when they patently were not. eg jar of solid eyeliner, lipstick, lip balm and my toothpaste was confiscated as not fitting in the liquids bag when these other items were added. Given this experience, I was determined that my transit through Manchester Airport security this week should go smoothly. I purchased a fast track passport control ticket for £5, and avoided the queues. However, I had to re-enter domestic security for a flight to Glasgow. The bottle of perfume purchased in Geneva duty free was not allowed, even though it was in a sealed duty free bag. Had to be opened, unpackaged and placed in the liquids bag. Emerging from security, I found standing room only in a noisy, filthy perfumy food hall. Much worse was to come on the return flight. My handbag was hauled out for inspection. After a 10 minute wait, it was swiped and found suspect. Most of the contents were taken out, not in front of me, but well behind the counter. Personal items, including a precious scarf that I did not want to come in contact with the filthy grey trays, were unceremoniously dumped. Two purses, one with swiss money, one with sterling were laid out and exposed, my phone was confiscated while I was questioned, as to profession, purpose of visit to Glasgow (mother in hospital) and what I had done, what medication I take (none), what medication my hospitalised mother is taking (no idea). I was body searched a second time and refused my coat, though it was cold. I was delayed for 45 minutes while phone calls were made, no information given until release... suspected traces of explosive found within handbag (absurd!) Running for the gate was a nightmare. A huge crowded duty free shopping zone has been deliberately designed to delay passengers. A consumerist treadmill with no short cut to the gates. Fortunately, flight was delayed, but there was nowhere to sit down before gate number shown. Ordered scrambled eggs, in noisy, filthy bar but the order got scrambled... ended up with the wrong dish having waited more than 15 minutes. The only positive point was the pretty little rose garden off the walkway between terminals 3 and 1. For the rest, the moving walkways were out of order, as they had been the previous week, and the general impression is of a dirty grossly overcrowded environment. Though the staff are pleasant and helpful, management is evidently poor, the whole experience was extremely stressful, and I felt ripped off and abused. Needless to say, my next trip to Glasgow will be through Amsterdam, no matter what price the ticket.

❎ Not Verified | What an absolute disgrace Terminal 1. Just returned from a fortnights holiday in the Far East flying with Emirates airlines from Terminal 1 Manchester Airport. Our daughter dropped us off at Terminal 1 and then had the privilege of paying Three pounds to exit the barriers. Check-in and Security I can only describe as Chaos. (Please smile staff it costs nothing.) Bangkok, Siem Reap, Phuket and Dubai airports were all absolutely immaculately kept. No Litter, toilets immaculate, staff all very friendly, check-in and security no hassle whatsoever. On landing at Terminal 1 the only positive I can possibly give was passport control which proceeded quite quickly. Apart from that another horrible experience. Toilets dirty, staff sullen and a total embarrassment to be quite honest. I spoke to a lady from Australia at luggage pickup who's exact words were " Have I landed in a Third World Country". I will say no more. Then off course the Four pounds our daughter had to pay just to exit the pickup at the car park for a two minute stay.

✅ Trip Verified | Manchester Airport terminal 3 is probably the most infuriating and annoying airport I’ve ever had the misfortune to travel through. It started with Ryanair’s self check in bag drop. With only one member of staff to oversee hundreds of people self checking in their bags. It takes a long time. There are no staffed bag drop lanes only self drop. Then you move on to the security check area to get airside. Long queues of people shuffle through tight and congested lines. People continually bumping into each other. The lay out of the security area seems to have a counter intuitive layout. Lots of back and forth, lots of irritated people bumping into each other. Then probably your bag will be siphoned off to an area that requires a further additional security check. Another long wait while people scramble in front of each other as their bags are called to be searched. I over heard another passenger describe it as total carnage. If you are unlucky enough, like we were, to get a false positive reaction to the swab test on the bags (a test for explosives), you will then be further subjected to questioning and more swab tests, scanner machines and a physical search. After all this, if of course, they let you go, you can then enter the airside area. We were shaken after our intensive security experience. We then decided to buy a bottle of water in boots. There were 2 tills open and a queue that snaked all around the shop and out of the front. There must have been at least 70 or 80 people in the queue. It took over 25mins for me to purchase 2 bottles of water. When we finally managed to get a seat with our water, I looked at the time. We had arrived at Ryanair bag drop at 5.30pm and when we sat airside, it was 7.30pm. 2hrs!!! I’ll say that again.....2hrs!!! Good job we left ourselves with time to spare. We have had previous experience of Manchester Airport. The terminal is over crowded with very little seating in small areas. It is not very clean. All areas where you buy things, ie. bars and shops and food seem to be understaffed and overcrowded. I have been flying for over 30 years, many times a year in lots of countries. It would be fair to say that I am an experienced and frequent flier. But never have I experienced the disorganisation and general unease of flying through Manchester terminal 3. I will alter my itinerary in the future to avoid using this airport.

Not Verified | After checking in we decided to get a cup of tea in one of the cafes in terminal one. What an awful experience that was, undrinkable teas slopped into a cup with a packet of 2 biscuits for £5.85. The floor was dirty with fluff and dirt underneath the chairs, it was 5.30am so obviously no night shift staff. We used the toilet where the tap water was cold as was the air in the hand dryer. We bought a book at WH Smith and whilst on holiday discovered we were overcharged by £1.00. The barcode was obviously set up incorrectly as I complained to another WH Smith store on our return and received a refund. The travelator was also broken. In contrast Palma airport was immaculately clean with a working travelator and hot water and hot air dryers in the restroom. Manchester Airport needs to stop taking travellers for granted, as Liverpool Airport is much better as the customer actually matters.It is also stress free in terms of parking and the standards of cleanliness much higher.

✅ Trip Verified | Having travelled for decades through Manchester Airport I truly believe it has become the worst airport experience in Europe if not the world. I recently had to endure the the usual 50 to 60per cent of cabin bags pushed aside for rechecking. I really believe the x-ray operators were being trained as they were unable to identify possible threats or not. There was a massive queue of people waiting for at least another 20 minutes or more to retrieve their possessions from the trays. It was pandemodium. I can't imagine what the situation would have been like if it had been a half term ect. I don't think I am alone in believing that MAG is 100% concentrating on increasing profits (as the recent drop off and pick up charges would indicate) rather than deliver a security experience that takes into account the wellbeing of their customers. It needs to train it's security staff some basic customer service as this certainly not evident as per usual.

❎ Not Verified | Absolutely shocking today! Arrived early from US and waited on tarmac for 20 mins as another aircraft on stand! Customs not too bad today. However we waited an hour for our bags, where were the staff at all at such a busy airport?! On strike? Can’t be bothered? Our friends bags didn’t turn up until after 10am, a wait of over two hours! How is this acceptable? Car park rates extortionate. All very well upgrading terminals etc but they haven’t got anything right in terms of service. A disgrace.

✅ Trip Verified | Without a doubt the worst airport in Europe. I am a regular flyer and Manchester airport just gets worse every year. The security set up is a disorganised mess with chaos throughout the whole process. If you are thinking of booking fast track don't bother as there is no difference than the normal service.which is poor at best. I only live 25 miles from the airport but have started booking long haul from Gatwick as the experience at Manchester has been that bad The place requires a complete overhaul of the management to turn this shambles of a place around.

✅ Trip Verified | Both leaving and arriving at Manchester airport are now nothing but an irritating hassle, poor service and a complete and utter rip off. Despite living less than 10 miles away public transport would take over an hour and a half therefore realistically for an early departure and late evening arrival I needed to travel by car/taxi. This week my husband dropped me at terminal 3. He pulled in at drop off. I jumped out of the car and picked up my bag. He drove away and we had to pay £3 for the privilege. Arriving back we flew into the newly opened part of terminal 2. There was no indication that it was a 10 minute walk to passport control. Fine for me as a fit and healthy traveller but I don’t believe my older mother or others with even minor mobility issues would have found this easy. That is unacceptable. Having cleared passport control and customs I then found I had to walk another 300+ m to a pick up zone. It wasn’t until I found myself inside a car park that it became clear that the pick up zone was in there. I am very happy to travel the world but late at night, walking down long and mostly deserted areas I did not feel very safe and was not confident I would easily be able to locate my husband. He found his way to the zone and within less than a minute we were on our way out. Yes you guessed it there was a £4 charge for the privilege of a totally poor experience. Shape up Manchester Airport, flashy buildings mean nothing when the quality of your service is so appalling.

Not Verified | The airport security was terrible. The lines were miss-managed. It seems two in every three bags were siphoned off for reevaluation without any fault being found. Signage is poor. Very crowded. Generally not very clean.

✅ Trip Verified | A truly awful experience with Security. The staff seem to treat passengers with contempt. The security process seems dis-organised and should be re-aligned to operate in a way that all other airports do. The queuing system to load trays onto the scanning belt led to people bumping, tripping and having to push past each other: at least 1/3 of all trays were rejected resulting in a large crowd of people trying to get their belongings. When a security person selected my tray I identified myself. I was then told that I was too early (true my flight was a few hours later) and to my extreme distress I was told that my tray would be sent to the back of the queue. My jacket was within my reach, but he took it away and physically placed it on a bench behind all the others. I had to wait another 20 mins to see it again - and it passed OK. This was a vindictive act, that seems to fit the culture encouraged in this terrible environment. Manchester Airport Management Team - you should be ashamed.