Manchester Airport

Customer Reviews

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Terminal Seating 12345
Terminal Cleanliness 12345
Terminal Signs 12345
Queuing Times 12345
Food Beverages 12345
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Customer rating from 1370 reviews
2/10
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5/10

Manchester Airport customer review

(United Kingdom)

MAN is my local airport and I use it somewhere between 15 and 20 times a year - usually "off season" and for early morning flights and normally it's a joy to use - the new security arrangements in T1 and T2 particularly are excellent and from bag drop to end of security can take as little as 10 minutes. However the current security debacle in T3 is abysmal - on a recent short haul flight to Europe I arrived as I usually do 90 minutes before departure time and after baggage drop off I immediately found myself in an incredibly long security line that snaked around the building as far as the eye could see - asking a security guard how long it would take to clear he shrugged and responded "about an hour". I asked why it was so bad and he replied that they were down to two scanners due to refurbishment and it was the busiest time of year. You really do have to question why they have chosen to do this refurbishment at the busiest time of year when it would clearly cause maximum disruption. All the way through the awfully long and hot wait a lady was calling through passengers who were departing in less than 30 minutes (so it pays to be late clearly!) and a sense of barely controlled chaos pervaded the whole thing. When finally getting through the lines there wasn't time for any refreshments etc just a brisk walk to the gate and immediate boarding was all that time allowed - am surprised the retailers in T3 are not up in arms at the current state of the place! Such a shame Manchester Airport is normally a wonderful place to start a trip but the current state of T3 leaves a sour taste in my mouth. Thank goodness my next flight is out of T2.
Queuing Times 12345
Terminal Cleanliness 12345
Airport Shopping 12345
yes
2/10

Manchester Airport customer review

(United Kingdom)

Terminal 3. I've used this terminal regularly over the last few months and can't wait for a break from it. The queues start at the entrance to security and from there it's all misery until on the flight. To provide an excuse the management have put up apologetic signs. But they've been there for months now so the excuse has worn paper thin. There are only three x-ray machines in use leading to an unpleasant and painful (for people with niggling injuries like me) lengthy standing session in an area with the atmosphere of a hospital waiting room. This seems unnecessary when there are other machines nearby that are little used and many staff standing around with nothing to do. Staff are offhand or surly and seem to have no sympathy to their customers' discomfort. The shops are OK but there's rarely time to part with any money. To the officious member of staff I grumbled to...no I can't arrive earlier than when the first train of the day drops me off! And why do you have to scan your boarding card twice (with inevitable queuing each time): is that meant to be an improvement?
Queuing Times 12345
Terminal Cleanliness 12345
Airport Shopping 12345
no
na

Manchester Airport customer review

(United Kingdom)

Simply the worst airport I've had the misfortune of visiting. Actually missed my flight for the first time in my life! Got to the airport 2 hours before my flight (6am) with no bags to check which from experience is plentiful for most normal airports. However at Manchester I was greeted by the mother of all airport security queues. Having shuffled along for 1.5 hrs I could see time was getting tight. Thankfully a member of staff shouted "anyone with a flight in the next 30 min please come forward" which I gladly did. Whereas most airports suffice with a full body metal detector Manchester insists on using a ridiculous body scanner. You have to queue to enter the scanner then after you exit you get scanned again! In all it took me 25 min to get through the body scanner leaving me 5 min to run to the boarding gate. Got there 5 min late - the gate had closed. What's the point of fast-tracking people 30 min before their flight when it takes 25 min to pass through security? And why use body scanners that serve no purpose other than to cause you grief and misery? The whole operation is a shambles.
Queuing Times 12345
Terminal Cleanliness 12345
Airport Shopping 12345
no
1/10

Manchester Airport customer review

(United Kingdom)

17/8/2013 MAN-MUN 6.55am Lufthansa. Arrived at around 5am. Airport extremely over crowded! Checked-in online with no baggage so went straight through to security. But unfortunately only got as far as the boarding pass scanner to enter the airside zone. Apparently the barcode on my boarding pass was not the right kind of ink. I had to go all the way back to the check in desk pointlessly just to get an airport boarding pass. Whilst time was ticking had to join the first queue which started practically from drop off then the second queue which was for security. Now there is really no security at Manchester airport all the rude insolent staff just tell you where to stand. A loud beep came out of the gate signalling I had to stand in a claustrophobic box for 15 minutes with 7 other people just so they could pat me down. Had to run straight to the gate which was 08 and was about a good 15 minute walk from security. When I arrived the sign said 'boarding' so hopped into the queue. But queued for about 25 minuets before I could even board the plane. Don't even get me started with arrivals that's worse than a zoo! No wonder the airlines say come at least 2 hours before your boarding time!
Queuing Times 12345
Terminal Cleanliness 12345
Airport Shopping 12345
no
8/10

Manchester Airport customer review

(United Kingdom)

Terminal 1. Lufthansa to Munich at 06.55. 16th July. Already checked in online and as I had hand luggage only I went straight to security at 05.30. Lots of people about mostly people going on holiday. The queue kept moving I didn't have to stop and standstill and overall it went smoothly. Airside - The one thing I hate about this terminal is having to walk through the duty free shops to get to the gate area. Its like walking through a department store and is not conducive to efficient passenger transit from A to B. A new restaurant upstairs that has replaced the self service one. The service was fast as required by departing passengers. Return arrival next day at 22.30. Guess what? Automatic E passport gates not operating (again)! Fortunately there was no queue for manual passport inspection. Didn't have to wait for baggage so I was out of the airport in quick time. One of the better experiences.
Queuing Times 12345
Terminal Cleanliness 12345
Airport Shopping 12345
yes
5/10

Manchester Airport customer review

(United Kingdom)

Terminal 1. We used to fly via Manchester quite often but in recent years we have invariably used Liverpool. However I had found it cost slightly less to fly from Manchester so we went for the cheaper option. Everything went fairly smoothly both on the outward and inward journey and we encountered no unpleasantness from anyone: in fact the security lady who attended to us was positively pleasant and helpful. She even suggested that my wife and I share a tray for the items which had to be sent through separately. Would we choose Manchester in future over Liverpool? Only if it was much cheaper. Everything took much longer at Manchester because of the crowds. Security area seemed more claustrophobic and there was hardly any room on the other side of the channels to re- pack one's bags. On our return it took approximately an hour from leaving the plane until we exited the car park. There weren't any major queues at any stage but long walks passage through passport control waiting for the bus to Jet Park 3 roadworks between the airport and the car park all took time even without hold luggage to collect In contrast our daughter who had flown later via Liverpool said that on return it took her just 5 minutes from plane to car park. She agreed that everything had been in her favour but in the past we have managed it in 15 minutes when immigration is not busy. Also why is a boarding pass required even to buy a newspaper at Manchester when there is no such requirement at Liverpool? On balance therefore Manchester was better than we expected but the sheer volume of people passing through would make us choose the possibly more downmarket but "homelier" Liverpool on most occasions.
Queuing Times 12345
Terminal Cleanliness 12345
Airport Shopping N/A
no
1/10

Manchester Airport customer review

(United Kingdom)

This airport is an unpleasant one from which to depart. Security is nonsensical and un-necessarily neurotic. It seems that the MAG management have as their number 1 priority the inconvenience of the passengers. Why is it that when they go from bad to improved someone dreams up something new to create queues and take the airport back down to very poor? Their latest gimmick is a new (and very expensive) system to photograph every passenger going into the departure lounge and then repeat the process as they leave! They state: All these security precautions are absolutely necessary to ensure the safety of all passengers so co-operation with security searches will be appreciated by the Airport staff. The passengers are put upon as a result of poor and incompetent management.
Queuing Times 12345
Terminal Cleanliness 12345
Airport Shopping 12345
no
na

Manchester Airport customer review

(United Kingdom)

Arrived early hours of the morning tired and looking forward to my holiday. To me the airport is where it starts? Sadly this is not the Airport to start your Holiday. This was my first visit to Manchester airport and hopefully my last. The good parts - it was clean! Then you hit security now we all know it has to be done but this lot were the worst I have come across. Rude obstinate are just the nice words I can think of. By the time we got through we then had to rush to get in time for our check in time this gave us no time for a Break or look at duty free. So on the whole avoid if you can.
Queuing Times 12345
Terminal Cleanliness 12345
Airport Shopping N/A
no
1/10

Manchester Airport customer review

(United Kingdom)

Large queues seem to be a given at Manchester airport nowadays it is no longer my departure point of choice but unfortunately on occasion I still have to use it. Last week we experienced a 20 minute delay when we arrived to wait for Wheel Chocks to be positioned before we could leave the plane and then 1 hour 30 minutes waiting for the luggage to arrive? Over 2 hours from touching down on the runway to exiting the building. Very poor service management and staff I am afraid.
Queuing Times 12345
Terminal Cleanliness 12345
Airport Shopping 12345
no
na

Manchester Airport customer review

(United Kingdom)

Flew from Manchester airport on 17th June 2013 and were met with massive queues at check in and security only just made it for our flight after queuing for over 2.5 hours. No time for a coffee or browsing round the shops very stressful.
Queuing Times 12345
Terminal Cleanliness N/A
Airport Shopping 12345
no