Manchester Airport

Not Verified | My first time visiting Manchester airport and it sure was disappointing. The first thing I noticed was how dated the airport looked, really felt like it could do with a facelift. Security at the airport was a nightmare. It was fairly quick however was complete chaos with people everywhere and didn't seem as well managed as what I've witnessed at other airports. The duty free and airside areas were more modern and a lot more pleasant. When I arrived back into Manchester airport upon arriving back into the UK. I was shocked at the state of the arrivals baggage reclaim. The room was once again very dated and had a funny smell to it. There was an uncollected case on one of the carousels which had broken open leaving its food related contents everywhere. I used the toilet whilst waiting for my bag and had the unpleasant experience of witnessing the toilets. Some of the urinals were blocked and had overflowed onto the floor, the smell was awful. Not a completely awful experience as the airport served its purpose however there are a lot of things that could change, definitely not up to the same standard as a lot of other airports in the UK.

✅ Trip Verified | Terminal 3 Departures: Primarily BA to LHR and all Ryanair flights. Check-in OK and Security reasonable for the time of day. The departure lounge was very busy with few empty seats, all the food establishments busy and suffering from a lack of table clearing etc to free up space. The shops seemed expensive with a poor selection available. Space at individual gates minimal so passengers were clogging things up, slowing down the boarding process and passengers trying to get to another gate further along. A reasonable selection of departure boards around.

Not Verified | A shocking airport which I will not be using again. Car parks are miles away. Buses are irregular. I have never walked so far at an airport in my life. Badly designed, inefficient and rubbish service. The walk from the plane to passport control was over 700 m. Passport control was poorly organized. The staff shifted us from queue to queue. Signage is misleading and poor.

✅ Trip Verified | 4 years since my last visit and review and overall it's still a 3rd World airport in need of improvement. Arrived 5th Oct on EK17 at Gate 12 in T1 - the only gate it seems that can accommodate an A380. Long walk to immigration but processing was quick though wait for baggage in a 1950's warehouse environment wasn't. Short wait for bus to Car Rental Village and "Preferred" status by car hire company had me away from airport in about 80mins. Departed on EK20 on 19th Oct. Check in was quick - arrived early - but security processing in the bowels of the 50's warehouse was the usual chaotic shemozzle - am still confused and bewildered as to why my passport and boarding pass need to be X-rayed. Food area still reminiscent of a shopping centre foodcourt whilst the availability of seating leaves a lot to be desired - seems that unless you're buying food & drink there is no seating. The departure gates in T1 are literally "holding pens" with no "facilites. There are some benefits of Manchester though - it does have good access to motorways and public transport, unless the rail services are on strike of course - and several one stop flights to Australia are available on a daily basis with Emirates, Ethihad and Qatar. Would I recommend Manchester ? Funnily enough yes. Have travelled through it several times so know what to expect and it is easily accessible if are living in or visiting the North of England.

Not Verified | This airport is a total waste of time when collecting baggage, it's a disgrace to the UK, should replace all the lazy staff. A bunch of monkeys would do a better job.

✅ Trip Verified | I use Manchester Airport on a regular basis, and normally it’s a completed shambles, with hideous shouting, pedantic, inconsistent security and big queues for everything. However this trip through the new T2 was very good. Security done in 5 minutes, no shouting staff and a gate with plenty of seating. My only complaint is that as usual, the Escape lounge had signage to say it was full when it definitely wasn’t. Arrival - through immigration and into the car 20 min after deplaning. Impressive. The caveat to this review is that we were travelling without luggage so cannot comment on checking in and baggage reclaim Maybe Manchester is improving?

Not Verified | Arrival to drop off bags was poorly handled. Even though I'd checked in online and arrived an hour before the desk opened I still got directed to the wrong queue. All else was fine. On coming back we landed and got to the gate slightly early but despite the airport having known this about 7 hours previously there were no buses organised to pick us up. 20 mins later we got off and were bussed to the baggage carousels via a swift e-gate system with very helpful security staff. Only three cubicles in a very large mens toilet with dozens of passengers was very poor. It took 45 minutes for our luggage to arrive despite the fact it was taken off the plane before we were. Observed dozens of abandoned/rush bags right beside entrance (terminal 2 by the way). After going through customs looking for a toilet the signage was extremely poor and eventually found the toilets tucked in behind M&S food shop. We landed at 0605hrs and we got out of the airport at 0750hrs. I could have flown to Germany in that time.

✅ Trip Verified | We arrived today from Tunisia and the whole experience was disgusting. As soon as you get off the plane the gate entrance is dirty - with tissue paper and smelly. Next the arrival toilets are absolutely dirty and in need of updating. Next waiting for our luggage on belt 3 - it took 1 hour and 15 minutes with no staff members to assist or help - there is line of abandoned luggage from previous flights with no room to move. The “first” impression for the world arriving to uk is dirty smelly and disgusting with no staff to assist.

✅ Trip Verified | Good transport links with a range of north England towns and cities. However, the airport is not known for the best security inspection experience, check-in process, and space management. There are lots of room to improve.

Not Verified | I was really shocked at this airport. When I arrived at terminal 2, I found that there is really nowhere to eat apart from KFC. You can of course go to M&S for a sandwich. It is a soulless place. After spending the night in a hotel on the grounds. I looked forward to my early morning flight, thinking at least I'd get some breakfast. No chance. 4.30 am and queues snaking for miles in security, people herded like cattle with rude staff, then the same at every shop that I passed by. I didn't even attempt to navigate the queues on the stairs to buy a cup of tea. It's disappointing and disgraceful.