Manchester Airport

✅ Verified Review | Manchester Airport June 2017. For those who crave disappointment this is for you. For charter flights it's the airport equivalent of toothache where the passenger has the paying for the privilege via the passenger security and facilities charge. What other sphere of activity is it OK to charge for a knowingly poor service? The reviews over months most are mostly pretty bad with common issues coming up again and again. Why not use some of the trumpeted £2billion spend to sort out the easy-to-remedy stuff first? Do something about smelly toilets, empty soap dispensers, slow baggage, access staircases that work are easy to position and ready for an on-time flight. We've used MA many occasions over the years and our opinions of the place has lowered each time. Repeated mentions about clunky check-ins, unexplained queues [lots], tortuous security control, upstairs/downstairs/round-the-houses walks, unavoidable travel through the 'duty free' perfume arcade on way to departure. Manchester Airport bills itself 'global gateway for the North of England' we arrived on-time Bilbao last Tues [20 Jun] and had to wait 10 mins for the steps to be wheeled in [it took 2 goes]. This was better than experience a week before on a flight from Nice where passengers were kept waiting 20 mins. We were ushered through a narrow litter-strewn passageway through a sliding door that opened and closed sporadically splitting up families. This little insight says it all. One of the first things you see on the Manchester Airport website is an invitation to pay £6 to fast-track book in. Not only is the airport aware that check-in is slow but rather than sort it out no – it's opportunity to further milk the punters! I'm sure the internal debate went along the lines: how much can charge for a service that other airports of a similar size do as standard for nothing? Others like Stansted [same group] charge £7 and Gatwick [a mere £5] both advertise the same service although not quite as blatantly. The 3rd largest airport in the country is a disgrace.

✅ Verified Review | I was about give this airport a very bad review, but having read previous reviews it is obviously famous as one of the worst if not the worst airports in the UK and therefore the world. It is an utter disgrace without adequate public seating no public telephones and dirty I arrive from Bangkok and Dubai airports, both of which are world standard. I suggest the people of Manchester rise up in fury to be disgraced by this shambles which is so bad it makes Heathrow look adequate.

❎ Unverified | Horrendous queues for security at Manchester Airport. Only electronic gates for boarding pass scanning and they kept closing them down as there were too many passengers! Queues for over 1.5 hours just to get to the security desks. Then stood for 19 mins in a queue to order breakfast to be told there would be a 30 min wait for food. Ended up queuing for 20 mins at Costa Coffee and then to be told we couldn't take the drinks onto the plane and the gate was now closing. Will seriously consider advising folk to travel from alternate airports (Leeds/Bradford and Liverpool much easier.)

❎ Unverified | I travel out of Manchester Airport T3 a lot and every time it gets worse. The check in process through customs is borderline aggressive and the staff snap at you. Most people at an airport are going on holiday and this just makes it start off on a bad note. Then the main area and the lounges, most of the time the air conditioning does not work so having spent up to an hour waiting to get through customs in hideous heat, you then move into even more unpleasant heat. The Escape lounge charge £27 for entry which is fine until you the find out they have no aircon and you sit there getting hotter and hotter. If you use the main area you can wait up to an hour for a table for food or 45 mins just to get a drink at the bar. The place clearly cannot cope with the volume and that should be addresses. I think the worst part for me is the customs area where the staff are rude, aggressive and totally unhelpful. I watched a man try and explain to someone that his wallet had not come through the scanner to be told - then to a desk and log it - then totally ignored. I have travelled in third world places where the experience is far greater than at Manchester T3. The place is often very dirty also, the toilets usually with no loo paper and no soap.

❎ Unverified | A shambles from start to finish, not enough check in desks open for the number of customers, two hour long queues to go though security in an area with no air conditioning and no drinking water available. Coming home through this airport was no better, huge queues at border control to then wait an hour and a half for our bags to hit the carousel, no staff to tell us what was the delay, despite this being my local airport I will avoid using it in future where I can, it's been gradually getting worse for some years.

✅ Verified Review | I never look forward to travelling through Manchester Airport because going through their security is such an unpleasant experience. I appreciate that security is vital for all our safety but the manner which the staff process the passengers is inefficient and verging on aggressive. Is it necessary for passengers to feel intimated and threatened by the a simple search. I would advise passengers to go via Liverpool or avoid terminal one at all costs. I have travelled to / from Belfast at the height of the troubles and have never experienced such intense scrutiny where the staff duplicate the searches. Are the surely staff trying to ensure that they have continued employment? In the summer their procedures lead to massive queues of over 3 hours. During the summer I arrive close to departure time because they always allow you to jump the queue. The businesses in the airport must hate security because passengers have less time to shop. EasyJet has moved many domestic flights to terminal 1 could I please beg them to return to terminal 3. Arrival at terminal 1 on a domestic flight requires the passengers to be bussed to the exit. This can take over 15 mins. Why in this day and age does it take so long. easyJet go back to terminal 3. Terminal 1 has a very limited number of seats instead of sitting on the floor go to Liverpool.

✅ Verified Review | On the day when Manchester airport has featured in the news as one of the worst in the world, I feel that I should review it, and capture the good and the bad. We travelled to and from Manchester in March (Berlin short break) and to and from Croatia (Dubrovnik for 1 week) in May. We're travelling again to Greece in August. Absolutely no issues with departure either time on our recent jaunts. Good bag drop and check in when we needed it. There is a difference between T1 and T2 on departure (bigger international flights leave from T2), and perhaps we were fortunate to have travelled early morning on both occasions. Yes, it took a while to clear security both times, and on the Berlin trip I was taken aside for a while for a completely justified reason, but no dramas. Both terminals are OK for us. The main bar in T2 has been re-fitted, and we thought it was a massive improvement. Yes, the food is expensive, but most of us aren't here for long. Decent screen updates in both terminals on departure, and boarding was fine. The problem when using this airport is invariably the return. Coming back from Berlin not too bad, but returning to T2 in May was embarrassing. All of the EU residents queued at the biometric scanners with constant shouting about where to stand/which lane to use. All this whilst watching a handful of non EU folk having a pleasant chat with immigration at an adjacent desk and largely being waved through. This says a fair bit about our country right now. Appreciate that immigration is a Border Agency issue, but several in our queue commented about feeling like 2nd class citizens, and having to wait 45 to 50 minutes to clear immigration. (When we live here). On a personal note, we had plans to get to Old Trafford for the match, and only just made it. Had we arrived on a middle east / Asian flight, we would probably have had considerably more time to get onto the Metrolink. Maybe will get worse, or maybe actually better when we Brexit as something will have to speed up, or the airport will grind to a halt. Departure no worse than many places. This airport has to look at what people see on arrival as it does not show our city in a great light. ** ASKED TICKET

❎ Unverified | I agree with most of the recent reviews. Baggage Drop is chaotic, security on return is ludicrous, huge qeues and not enough scanners for everyone with the latest passport chips, doors that close to cut off families and filthy approaches to the terminal doors, in terminal one at least. I have landed there twice in 2 weeks and on both cases the steps did not work properly so we were stuck on the plane. Baggage reclaim has been the worst in the country for years. Toilets were filthy and soap dispensers and driers did not work. It has just been ranked the 3rd worst airport in the world, how can Gatwick and Kuwait possibly be worse. Heads should roll!

❎ Unverified | My wife and I arrived at Manchester Airport T1 on Friday 16th June 2017 at approximately 6.00pm, and were immediately struck by the masses of people queuing to enter the building. We put this down to it being a busy Friday evening and thought no more of it. We went to the Aer Lingus desk and checked in our luggage, and within a couple of minutes approached the security screening area. We were horrified to see the massive crowds of people queuing to enter security. Thankfully, we had access to the Fast Track security and we entered and joined a queue. This queue moved incredibly slowly and it took almost 90 minutes to finally clear security. This was Fast Track, and we heard passengers in the other queue saying that they had waited over two and a half hours. During this time, there were numerous announcements advising passengers to remove devices, etc from bags so as to speed up the security process. What a joke! At no time was there any announcement to explain this delay. We were confined inside a very hot area with no cool air, no offer of drinks of water (this was especially shameful as there were many elderly and pregnant passengers in this very uncomfortable area. When we finally reached the screening area, I was met by a very friendly operative whom I asked the reason for this delay. He explained that it was due to the airport being very busy. This is totally unacceptable: Airport management have information on the precise number of passengers due to check in at any given time. That such a large crowd was allowed to congregate in the departures area was a serious health hazard. Being confined in a very warm airless area with no access to water, and being denied the most basic information is a dreadful way to treat paying customers. The management of Manchester Airport should hang their heads in shame at this debacle. My wife and I both love visiting the UK. On foot of our experience today, we will certainly think twice about flying out of Manchester.

✅ Verified Review | As an experienced traveller I expect delays. However the delays experienced clearing through security at Manchester Airport Terminal 1 are the worst I have ever come across in 35 years of flying. I understand and accept there is a hightened security risk however after clearing baggage check for quickly to be hearded into funnels and waiting 90 minutes to get through security is completely unacceptable. We got to the airport two hours before departure at 6am and the aircraft was calling our names before we cleared security. Too many passengers, not enough security staff!Will not use Terminal 1 again!