Manchester Airport

Not Verified | The Airport is ok once you pass the dreadful security. During the queuing time you have a couple of staff members yelling instructions about fluids, laptops, phones etc. (what a nasty experience) I was quite relieved that the security queues were not much different to most airports that I have used recently about 20 minutes (Man is 7th Airport I have used this year). The major catch is that the scanning machines rejected about 95% of the Bags. Mine was rejected due to a travel adapter. This just pushes the waiting queues to the other side of the security and nearly everybody has to wait for their bag to be manually checked. I had to wait for nearly an hour before my hand luggage was due. As mentioned a travel adapter was the problem, all other airports I have used this year this was never an issue. Then you just get a stroppy inspector asking the usual question like have you packed yourself etc. Overall there were 3 staff members manually checking and swabbing the hand luggage. It looks like Manchester T1 are using very different scanning machines as all other world airports, as I have used this Airport several times over the years and the security is always the worst experience. My bag gets rejected every time, even a pen will get your bag rejected. The security area in T1 is also the most depressing room you could ever imagine, dirty with dull lighting, broken floor tiles and overall extremely dated with know it all staff members

Not Verified | This is one the most backward airports in the UK, WiFi sucks, there is not enough seating and lack of display screens for flights. The cleaners need firing and re-employing with people who actually clean, full bins, no smoking area, even Leeds Bradford airport has a smoking part and apparently Manchester is meant to be a bigger airport. The biggest problem is the staff, all seem to be grumpy!

✅ Trip Verified | Ten years ago I used to extol the benefits of Manchester airport - it was the best in the UK (I travel a lot). The last few years have left it as one of the worst in the UK. Security, facilities, overcrowding, catering for solo travelers etc are all abysmal. My current favourite is Birmingham, busy but spacious, expanded food seating etc. Manchester has really dropped the ball in my opinion.

Not Verified | We moved to Manchester from Perth, Australia, expecting an upgrade in the quality of our travel. Should have done some research before choosing this city as a base to explore Europe! Have now been in and out of countless airports in Europe, the Middle East, and Asia and I can't think of a worse airport around the world. Hygiene and cleanliness are terrible, security screens are unfriendly and a mess, and general amenities are a poor. You're always walking around the place the travelators rarely work, and the elevator system to take you between the station and the terminal levels is a joke. Most recently got off a flight from Qatar, and only had three immigration desks processing non-UK visitors (plus all of the people in wheelchairs and cabin crew). Time to knock it down and start again.

Not Verified | Definitely the worst airport in the world. Congested most of the time - doubt it meets HSE standards. Frequent delays due to understaffing - example people in wheelchairs waiting to get off the plane have to wait significant amount of time to get off because not enough manpower is available to help them. Then further delays. They put that there are plans to refurbish the airport but it is a long way from completion. If you go to a third world country, the airports are so much better.

Not Verified | Every time I fly via Manchester Airport my luggage gets pulled out at security, and every time for something different which is not actually a violation to carry. I paid a bit extra for Fast Track this last time because I know it takes so long, and it still ended up taking over an hour. It seemed that the 'good' luggage was about 1 in 10 of 'bad' luggage - with even people who were not getting pulled over still having to wait ages because of the backlog through the scanner. I fly quite often and never have this problem at any other airport both at home and abroad. I pack very carefully but it seems no matter how careful I am, I can't win at this airport. I very very carefully made sure that no fluids were left out of my 'fluid bag', and I followed all other guidelines. But I got pulled over for tablets in a small glass bottle, an asthma inhaler (which last time I got told wasn't a fluid and I didn't want to take up valuable room in my little fluid bag), oh and a small mirror with a light. I got speaking with the guy who was checking my bags and said that I only ever had these issues in Manchester. I was glad they were been vigilant but vigilance had to be tempered with a good dose of pragmatism as basically they were checking 8 out of 10 people going thru. He was actually a pleasant young man and he sort of agreed with me. He said he used to work at a different airport and that he knew it was a lot different in Manchester. I actually felt sorry for him and his colleagues, they have an awfully difficult job to do, people shouting at them and getting agitated at missing planes, plus their work space is ridiculously cramped yet there are acres of space given over to retail once you finally get through the hallowed doors of security. If security is so important (which we all know it is) - give them the space, the environment and the tools to do it quickly and efficiently so that everyone has a much better experience.

Not Verified | We arrived in plenty of time to check in and get through security. Check in took an hour. Online check in and priority boarding made absolutely no difference whatsoever to queue length. Then security - well, what an absolute joke! Patronising, arrogant staff on power trips need to be given proper training on how to deal with their customers. Checking bags and asking stupid questions with clearly obvious answers and deliberately wasting your time. We (my elderly mother and I) literally had 30 mins to grab a drink before boarding. We had been up since 3am and driven 2 hours to ensure we had some time to chill out in have a wonder around duty free before boarding our flight. My mum was literally shaking with stress when we got to the boarding gate. Disgusting behaviour by ‘security’ and unnecessarily long check in make me want to fly from elsewhere in future.

Not Verified | Queuing times were abominable on 9 April in T3. The staff member I spoke to said the queues were because passengers were not heeding the advice to have items ready for screening. But it was obvious that there simply were not enough screening channels open for the volume of passengers. The screening process itself got no better. The x-ray scan showed up four areas of concern on my body, which resulted in a very thorough frisking. I don't have any qualms or objections to the need for the level of security screening required, but for some reason, the experience in Manchester Airport always seems to feel more invasive and unpleasant. By comparison, the screening in Dublin on my return was no less thorough, but the experience felt a world away from Manchester, less invasive, less unpleasant and more humane. The airport environment does nothing to redeem the experience, if I could avoid travelling through Manchester Airport I would.

✅ Trip Verified | On the 10th April 2019 my sister and I travelled to Malta to celebrate her 50th. We arrived at Manchester Airport to check in to what looked like a cattle market. Staff were rude and unfriendly and we were shunted from queue to queue with only pointing from staff as to where we should be. After placing her belongings in the trays for inspection the security officer demanded that she pick up the tray and pass it over to him. He could clearly see she was on a walking stick and had mobility problems. When she reminded him of this he just repeated the word “ tray” at her and repeatedly waved his hands at her. Baring in mind he was closer to the trays than she was. She was completely ignored and humiliated. I am absolutely disgusted with the way she and others were treated. Some families didn’t speak much English and they were talked at in the same manner. Utterly disgraceful

Not Verified | Manchester Airport is one of the worst airports I had to use and I travel a lot. Staff are most certainly inconsiderate and in many cases rude, security check is terrible, I’ve never had some of my items I fly with regularly scanned so many times. My DSLR camera was placed in the basket for re-scan (despite not being told to pull it out of the protective bag before first scan) and it rolled down the basket as it was coming down the line! They security staff is rude and exert their power and are most unfriendly people I have ever had to deal with when travelling through the airports. The queues are long, it’s hard to find your way around, there are people wondering around everywhere not knowing where to go and no one is helping them to find their way. Even at security fast track I was moved down 5 lanes before they finally allowed me to start getting through, even thought I told them I had little time, they made nothing of it. The terminals are packed, there is no way to run through it to catch your flight as there are people everywhere and not enough room to walk between chairs. On the way back at least the stuff was fine, but the pick up car park token charged us three times and still didn’t let us through, until we called an operator who was for once helpful and let us out (rightly so if we had to pay £14.00 for 3 minute pick up stay!). If you really have to travel form there, I recommend to be at least 3-4 hours early, as there is a lot you’ll have to go through before you catch your flight, and most of it won’t be pleasant. I will be avoiding flying from there as much as I can.