Manchester Airport

Used T2 for the first time in a while since AF/KL moved out. I was on the new CX service to Hong Kong and onwards to Sydney and back. Business Class so fast track and lounge outbound. Security a breeze for once business lounge is charmless with limited facilities and no view (as ever). Returning we were the first flight in at 0545. Walked straight through immigration to find our luggage already on the carousel straight through customs. In the public Arrivals area 15 minutes after landing. Can't do better than that. We then spent an embarrassing 10 minutes circling the car park having forgotten where we left it. T2 is so much better than T1 or T3. Why do so few airlines use it?

Arrived in from an 8 hour night flight to be greeted with an exceptionally large queue for not only the automated passport immigration but the manned desks also as several flights had landed around the same time. The front of the UK/EU passport queue had a very large number of Saudi's from a large Saudi Airlines flight and I admit that they could have been dual passport holders however the amount of time to process them I would say not as we were waiting over 1 hour with young children and elderly persons forced to be herded like cattle. Some members of the Large Virgin 747 flight verbally displayed their concerns and disbelief at the lack of efficiency within the immigration hall to be confronted with a large presence of police (more than actual immigration staff) standing there in a display of power and authority telling us to pipe down. 12 immigration desks with only 6 staff manning them? As many if not more police were present! Wouldn't tax payers money be spent more wisely on more UKBA immigration officers as opposed to overt unarmed police presence at the border? I certainly won't travel through Manchester again as Birmingham Heathrow and Gatwick are much more efficient and professional.

Landed on time and despite the very long walk from the air jetty to passport control we were through immigration collected bags and out of the airport in about 30 minutes which is pretty good especially when dealing with a full A380 plus other flights.

Arriving at Manchester Terminal one last Sunday 1 March off a TAP flight we were greeted with a sea of people from all directions trying to get to immigrations. It was complete bedlam with a single rude women barking at passengers demanding we all walk to the back of the queue. Really unpleasant experience I have also had very slow progress trying to get through security so my opinion of Manchester Airport is certainly below average. On the other hand Liverpool Airport which I also use is normally a breeze to pass through. I will be looking at LPL more often in future.

First experience of Terminal 3 on a Tuesday afternoon in February for some daft reason I thought it might be a pleasant and quiet experience. The first issue was immediately being shouted at by a charming young lady handing out clear plastic bags before security. She just seemed to scream at everyone (and anyone) for no apparent reason. Next up was the carnage which was security a wait of 45 mins underneath the hottest roof spotlights in queues which went nowhere fast. The number of passengers waiting was actually quite low it just took an excessive amount of time. Finally once it was our turn to be screened we were met by incredibly rude staff. Now sometimes people say that staff are rude whilst they are simply just being efficient and doing the job with no fuss this wasn't the case. These security staff were frankly disgraceful rude remarks to simple questions and then providing zero information when the whole screening machine/process temporarily broke down. So got through security and looked forward to grabbing a coffee. Exited the security section to be met by a red barrier across the corridor it turns out that a toddler designed this section of terminal 3. If a plane is disembarking from some gates you cannot walk from one section to another speechless! To make this albeit slight inconvenience worse we had to listen to the two female ground staff who were guarding this red barrier and supervising the disembarkation of the British Airways Airbus (at 16.25ish on Tues 3rd Feb 2015). They seemed to relish being able to control a large group of passengers who were now running rather late thanks to security delays and who were now stuck between this red barrier and security. Some passengers were really late and asked if they could be let through to the gates it turns out that at least this is possible. But only once you had been spoken to like a child and told "your too late" and "should have got to security earlier" (really). They then spent the remainder of this lovely encounter laughing and joking about the plight of those late passengers in front of about 50 passengers. Brilliant. Finally boarded a nice peaceful aircraft after one of the rudest most uncomfortable airport experiences I have ever encountered. I will never fly from this terminal again at Manchester. Why is it so much worse than the other two terminals? Maybe I had a bad experience but not once did I come across a "non-rude" member of staff until reaching the departure gate. Shameful and back to Liverpool airport I shall go.

First the good: security lines are generally shorter for frequent flyers which is a definite plus during holiday season when the airport can fill with not the most savvy travel set. The T3 Escape Lounge is adequate even nice given how busy and cramped that terminal is. Emirates Lounge Virgin Lounge are both excellent. Airport shopping is decidedly down-market which I think is pretty nice (how many Mont Blanc pens does one need?) Having both Boots and WH Smith available is great. There is a train station at the airport too which is great (it's a nice little station but it does get busy.) Since it goes directly to Manchester Piccadilly you can pretty much get anywhere (relatively) directly from MAN via train. For the most part service is good at MAN. Immigration officials have always been courteous and professional with me. Now the bad: 1. Even in the "Fast Lanes" security is very slow. If you are unfortunate enough to have your bag separated for extra screening the process is excruciatingly slow. This happens to me about one in three trips. Be early. For some reason Manchester uses lots of employees to board a plane the security questions no one in the world continues to ask are asked twice if you are on a direct to the US. I at one time thought this was a US thing but it isn't it's a Manchester thing (the same thing does not happen in London Paris or Amsterdam for instance.) 2. The airport layout is nonsensical. There is this weird airport wide prohibition of ANY luggage on the escalators. They put up quite elaborate gates to prevent you from using the escalators with say a roller board (you are instructed to use the lifts.) Everyone ignores this stupid prohibition which I have never seen anywhere else in the world (30 countries hundreds of airports.) It's weird. 3. Taxi pickup is unnecessarily burdensome for both passenger and driver. In Terminal 2 for instance savvy drivers will pull up to passenger drop off to pick you up. 4. Arriving in Manchester can be hit and miss. Sometimes it is great for non-EU passport travellers like me (they are separated from EU passengers regardless of residency.) Sometimes it is horrendous. The immigration officers are typically very nice however. Speaking of if you arrive in Terminal 3 and need to get to the train fast avoid the lifts that take you to the parking garage. Instead follow the path from Terminal three and when you just arrive at Terminal 1 take the two small elevators to "Terminal One Departures." Enter the departure hall and ignoring the bags on escalator prohibition take the small escalators and you will be in the sky bridge to the train station. You can easily save five minutes getting to the station which if you are late can mean the difference between getting and missing a train. Terminal One is by far the nicest terminal three is a bit shabby and two is crowded (and also shabby.) Because the boarding areas are so poorly designed (meaning without any effort to facilitate people actually boarding airplanes) this is one airport that being a frequent flyer is a real plus. Being in the NW and without another international option MAN is my home airport. If I get through it hassle-free that's the best I can expect. At least I can take comfort that upon arrival I am almost home. The train is a real plus too. Otherwise be prepared for ridiculous security not great amenities boarding hassles and an otherwise mediocre experience.

The prices are very expensive and they think they have trapped customers with no alternative. The only item at the market price was s newspaper and the customers is supposed to go through a lengthy process on a computer to buy one. This while a staff member stands there doing nothing.

Stopping on a connecting flight I thought that the process would be quick and painless. After searching tirelessly for an employee or information centre I was promptly greeted with a shrug of the shoulders. After politely asking my question I waved off in a direction and mumbled at with a swear word uttered under there breath. The facilities are poor and unclean. Blocked toilets and rude staff. I hope I never travel through Manchester airport again.

Flew out of Manchester to Heathrow from T3 on Christmas Day so there were very few flights operating and the airport was very quiet. Surprisingly though getting through security was a slow process and we had to queue for around fifteen minutes. Not a long time in normal circumstances but when there are only a handful of people ahead of you it was baffling. The security process has an air of disorganisation about it. Once through duty free was open as was the newsagent and cafe/bar in the centre. There isn't an awful lot more in that terminal anyway. All very quiet. As it was quiet it was a reasonable experience but I wouldn't like to have to pass through T3 in the height of summer.

Airport is clean and my trip was to US for a week. Security while going out was dreadful took long time there was larger number of people in US airport but they were very efficient or I would say dogmatic. Immigration check is scandal took nearly an hour in the line. Very grumpy that is first thing in the morning. They need to learn a lot more from US airport about customer relations.