Manchester Airport

✅ Verified Review | Manchester airport is an absolute joke. Passport control queues were the longest I have ever seen, charged to retrieve your own property if it is lost. Security spotted a small jar of tiger balm which was in a first aid kit that amounted to about 30ml. Then proceeded to scan and search even more, if they can spot a small tiger balm they can see what is in my hand luggage without me removing everything. Poor line of sight signage. Insufficent seating areas and staff that have their personalities removed made for a very unpleasant experience.

The state of the airport was filthy and disgusting - the toilets in departure were dirty and had not been cleaned for hours. Nowhere to get a coffee in the whole departure area for family seeing us off so we had to trek in lift etc to arrivals - the cafe was equally neglected and filthy - every table was covered in debris and uncleared cups plates etc.. Staff were just standing around talking. An appalling advert for our country to greet weary travellers.

We departed Manchester Airport Terminal 2 on the 21 August 2016 for our annual holiday and would describe ourselves as infrequent flyers. Prior to arriving at the hand luggage security check there are no signs indicating if travel documentation is required to be produced or not, so numerous travelers including ourselves arrived with boarding cards and passports in our hands, only to be to be then told (as if we should have known better) that we should have nothing in our hands and quickly place our hand luggage into the trays provided with no clear instruction as to where we should place our documentation, ie in our pockets if we had them or into our hand baggage. The female operative and her superiors issuing these instructions clearly did not realize that if she had been positioned 10 meters before the security check area and visual displays had been in-place with clear instructions the process would have been far smoother than the organized confusion which we walked into. Hand luggage which was then identified as requiring a visual search took a long time to be reunited with its owner due to the small area that the operatives were working in and the small number of operatives on duty, who were by the way very polite and patient. We returned on the 1 September 2016 to Terminal 2 on a mid-day flight to then queue for 45 mins at passport control, only to discover that there were only 5 passport scanning machines, and that once you actually got to the machine 1 in 8 passengers were unable to be scanned which was very time consuming for all involved. Families with children under 18 were sent direct to manual passport inspection prior to joining the queue, however there were a large number of passengers in the queue who were 65 yrs plus who clearly did not enjoy the experience of shuffling along in a queue for 45 mins! Having spoken to other passengers in the queue it would appear that a 45 mins wait is a regular occurrence and that having your passport rejected by the scanners is also as frequent.

What a nightmare. Arrived 3 hours before our flight to New York to spend 2.5 hrs shuffling along in the queue to go through security. It was boiling hot no air conditioning people panicking because they were late for their flight and staff bawling at people as if it was their fault. Then when we return to Manchester following a 7 hr flight we are made to queue again for well over an hour to get through passport control into the country we live in. Equally the toilets were disgusting. I have flown from Manchester for years and have never experienced such appalling service and if it because they are trying to save money then they really need to listen to their customers. I will be looking at flying from any other UK airport from now on, Manchester Airport management you should be ashamed.

Had a few bad experiences with Manchester airport, the latest one being just yesterday. Arrived back after great flights/holiday in Majorca, at 4am Sunday morning, was then left waiting around 40 mins for bags. No other flights were in and given it being the middle of the nights it`s totally unacceptable to have anybody let alone old people and children stood waiting this length of time. I ALWAYS try for other airports ie Leeds Bradford, Liverpool before Manchester.

Transit Lounge, T3. Hauled my hand luggage up several flights of stairs from my Flybe flight, and stood gasping for breath at the top waiting for someone to come and unlock a door to let us into the Transit lounge. Taken by surprise to then have to show boarding card, passport, and do eye-scan before being allowed through to the Lounge. The lounge, at 12.30am, was a vision of hell. Far too small to cope with passenger numbers. Noisy, cramped, too few seats, scruffy. Staff in the "Munch" shop were offhand, and didn't seem to know about customer service (though young man overseeing the self-help till was busy, but helpful). Toilet too small: entrance not big enough to allow anyone with a bag (me!) to easily get in or out. Basically I think the place needs enlarging with more seats and more space between them so you don't risk treading on people's feet or luggage as you stumble past them. And for goodness sake clean it up.

Manchester Terminal 3 has inadequate seating - it seems all previous seating has been converted to eateries or shops. There are so many, that even the seating for the dining outlets is inadequate and cramped. Security clearance is slow. Used to like it before. Now not sure.

Endless queues and rude staff seem to characterize Manchester Terminal 3. Upon arrival all EU passport holders were directed to the E-gates, although there was no queue at the manned booths. This resulted in an unnecessary 30min wait to clear immigration. Experience on departure was as unpleasant. Security check was a shambles - with rude staff barking at passengers. Incredibly, nearly all bags were selected for secondary screening. That process proved excruciatingly slow with passengers becoming increasingly irritated. I had to wait an hour to get my bag back. The departure area is clearly too small to accommodate the volume of travellers, with too many shops and not enough waiting areas - people were even sitting on the floor and stairs. Needless to say, I will avoid Manchester in the future.

Awful airport. Security takes forever they pretty much check every bag. Mine was checked after x-ray as they thought I'd left a liquid in it. I hadn't. It took about an hour to get through security. Then to walk to the gates you've to wait while other flights are disembarking as the corridor is too narrow or something. Toilets were dirty and not pleasant. No seats at gates really. Have travelled extensively and this is definitely the worst airport I've been at.

Departing Manchester T2 was quick and easy as usual. Short wait at security, but less than five minutes. Arriving was better than ever before, with about a minute wait at immigration, with bags there immediately. From plane to airport exit in less than five minutes was very good, especially as another flight was immediately before us. Signage, shopping options, and queue speed is always exceptional. Prices a bit expensive in the main restaurant, however the shops were very good value.