Manchester Airport

✅ Trip Verified | On returning a car to the rental village from the M56 motorway there only one sign directing you and this is after the exit ramp. If you do not know your way around the airport then this is a real problem. I can only assume the rental companies are making a little more money out of lost customers. Secondly we are at Giraffe in the food court of T1 and there was no air conditioning on the whole floor. This must be an infrastructure problem not the individual cafes so again Manchester Airport are at fault neglecting the comfort of their customers. To whom it may concern at Manchester Airport I would love to read your views on these topics.

✅ Trip Verified | We arrived back at Manchester airport on Saturday 24th March on a Qatar Airways flight from Doha and experienced a number of issues. The first was the queue for immigration control - this was nothing short of shocking. We waited for over 30 minutes to access the passport checking facilities - we were herded like cattle and sadly the border control staff were abrupt and rude! Our flight time was over seven hours, the last thing we wanted was standing in a queue for over 30 minutes without water etc. A large number of the people in the queue were elderly and were clearly suffering! The main issue is the limited number of E Passport scanners. Given that airlines are now using aircraft capable of carrying more passengers, the airport needs to provide facilities to respond to this change. We have travelled through various airports in Asia and didn’t experience any delays like this - they provide appropriate numbers of passport checking stations (both manual and electronic) and the security and passport control staff were helpful and polite. The second issue was baggage collection. We waited for over 20 minutes to collect our suitcases! Following the time we waited at passport control, the last thing we wanted was a further protracted wait to collect our suitcases. We weren’t told why our suitcases were taking so long to arrive, clearly staffing levels for this activity are totally inadequate and this needs urgent attention by the airport. Linked to the previous issue, I have a real issue with having to pay for my baggage trolley. I appreciate its only £1 but throughout our travels this is the only airport that charged for the baggage trolley. What makes this worse, many of the travellers on our flight were not UK citizens and didn’t have a £1 coin available and hence had to move their bags manually. I’m sorry but charging for baggage trolleys is just a way of generating money for the airport! The third issue was at the arrival hall. We had to queue for nearly 5 minutes to leave as the exit was completely blocked by people waiting for travellers. The airport needs to provide adequate and controlled space for people to wait for travellers. The fourth issue is the charging for Pick Up and Drop Off parking. It states on the airport website that you can park for up to 30 mins in the Multi Storey car park for just £4.00 - taxi firms add this cost onto the fare the traveller pays. The issue is when it takes over 30 mins to complete the arrival process the cost of parking escalates - this is added burden to the traveller and is wrong! The best way to do pick-up and drop off parking is to have the first hour free and then pay for additional time. Sadly this also appears to be another way of generating money for the airport. Linked to this issue, we were told by our taxi driver that the whole collection process at Manchester Airport is a complete disaster - they experience excessive collection delays and this impacts on their scheduling processes. This is a totally unacceptable knock on effect of the delays in the arrival process. My final issue, Terminal 2 is really showing its age and looks shabby and dated in comparison to the other airports we travelled through in Asia - even small ones. It needs an urgent and radical upgrade to reflect changes in airline and traveller requirements

✅ Trip Verified | Total chaos at security. First it wasn’t open, then an extra lane was open, queued for 30 mns, after putting trays through scanner we then had to walk back 3 scanners and queue up at another to go through body scanner, by this time our trays with valuables were stacking up, unwatched, when we walked back to retrieve our goods the lady barked at us to hurry up. I asked why the scanner that was with our tray security wasn’t open, as not our fault we could not collect trays and was told there was not enough staff. Manchester airport needs to do something about the shoddy experience for flyers, it’s bedlam and a real security risk. Anyone could have taken/stolen items from our trays as they were out of our sight due to having to go back 3 scanners for a body scan. Inside the terminal it's crowded, dingy and poor shops. Not enough seating or snack bars, a dreadful experience. Manchester airport one of the worst.

✅ Trip Verified | It is inevitable in today’s Security climate to experience some inconvenience as part of the checking process. However I found the process more then inconvenient and very uncomfortable as you are processed through security like cattle. The whole ambience and security area is absolutely miserable (I have sympathy with the staff working in these dire conditions) you are directed downstairs into a basement area where the security process is handled and the then back up stairs into the airport, the whole area is crowded and feels confined my worst fear would be if a fire should occur. T1 is very tired building in much need of refurbishment and modernisation however that is no excuse for a lack of general cleanliness including the toilet washroom facilities, and action could be taken in the interim to improve the appearance to help make the area a more welcoming space. There is the promise of jam tomorrow but something needs to be done today to improve the whole passage experience. Our destination airport was Calgary airport and the difference was chalk and cheese. Calgary was so clean and spacious public facilities well maintained and a very welcoming space. The security process on our return through Calgary was far less stressful and this was mainly due to the ambience as the security process handling is identical. So come on Manchester get your act together. The UK airports are the first and last impressions for visitors to the UK.

✅ Trip Verified | Used Manchester airport last week and the queues were shocking. The staff seem genuinely surprised at how many people are arriving/departing. May I suggest they take a look at the timetables and staff the security and passport control accordingly. I can just about accept queueing for security, but more desks should open when hundreds of people are queueing. Passport control on arrival into Manchester is nothing short of a joke. We waited over an hour and were herded like cattle into the pens. Non-EU passengers and passengers with identity cards were just waved through to the front without having to queue at all. Might it not be better for UK nationals to be dealt with first and after that deal with the non-EU and identity card passengers. This is the way it happens in the USA and also in Alicante airport. Spanish citizens are dealt with before any others. I will not choose another flight using Manchester airport if I can travel from another airport to the same place. If more passengers start using alternative airports then maybe something will be done about the customer service.

❎ Not Verified | Total chaos going through Terminal One security. Long queues of paying passengers herded into cattle runs by very rude staff shouting "Come on, keep going" although the hall was already full. Low ceilinged crowded hall, I didn't see any toilet facilities and certainly nowhere for any who might have standing problems to sit whilst waiting for such long periods. If we had really been cattle instead of substitutes the RSPCA would have closed it down. So extremely claustrophobic that I was tempted just to return without going on our much needed holiday. If there had been an emergency, security alert and a resulting panic how would we have coped? I'm sure many health and safety rules must be being breached daily in this area and I feel so sorry for regular business travellers who have no choice but to use it. I personally will not choose to use it until the memory of this torment fades. I've used Manchester airport for over 50 yrs and never has it been so bad, a total disgrace.

❎ Not Verified | Manchester Airport is getting quite shabby. It desperately needs modernising. The colours are dark and dismal. The 'Priority' lane took 35 mins today, which is not ok. Security needs re-organising to get people through with a minimum waiting time.

❎ Not Verified | We arrived at about 3 am to try to find terminal 1 multi storey car park (have been to this many times), however the road to it was closed without any indication of which alternative one to take! There followed about half an hour of driving around the airport trying to find the way in to the car park. At one point we found ourselves back on the M56 and heading home! Luckily in the end we came across some workmen crossing the road who were kind enough to help us with directions. This is not the best start to a holiday! What's difficult about having a sign saying "To Terminal 1 multi storey?" Too easy I expect, I mean where's the challenge in that? Terminal 3 car park has also proved difficult to locate in the past, with a similar road closure. I have other complaints, not least the automated message I got today when I phoned to book a car parking place telling me to ring back another day! Get your act together Manchester airport.

❎ Not Verified | We checked in at 6.30 am with plenty of time for our 8.45 flight, until we joined the security queue. Two hours later we were still there, and just made our flight with no drink, breakfast or chance to buy duty free. Evidently this wasn't a one off as we were told and to be fair the staff tried hard to remedy what was chaos! I am 71 years old and luckily quite fit but imagine anyone not able to stand for that length of time, its just not acceptable. Surely in this computer age the airport knows in advance how many people will be travelling at a given time and should employ staff accordingly.

❎ Not Verified | Having travelled recently via Manchester, Beijing, Hanoi and Dubai I have to comment how Terminal 1 is really showing its age and particularly the departure gates / seating areas are looking extremely shabby in comparison. I'm amazed Emirates allow their customers to have to use such a tired shoddy environment. Terminal 2 is better but 1 and 3 need major investment. The airport has recently implemented changes to parking drop off and pick up and is forcing taxis to pay a £4 fee which is passed on to the traveller. I had the issue of arriving back in the early hours from Beijing chasing my private hire taxi which was being moved on by extremely zealous parking attendants.