Manchester Airport

Flew out to Amsterdam with KLM from T2. Despite checking in online there was no bag drop everyone had to stand in the long check in queue. Up the escalator to the shops. Going through security was quick. I had planned to have some breakfast but the food area looked grubby even at the start of the day so I got something from Boots. On the return the queue for passport control was huge. Husband got through the iris scanner ok but it rejected me. When that happens you're supposed to be able to go to the front of the queue but I had to go to the back by which time another plane had landed and the queue was even longer. When I finally got to the front some 20 mins later they were telling people to have their passports ready and to go through as a family group to speed things up. The officer told me that they'd been having problems with the iris scanner rejecting people and they didn't know why. They had the booths there they will be using for biometric passports and I believe that will be their focus for the future as apparently iris has turned out to be a bit of an expensive white elephant.

Manchester airport is trying! Still needs work on the cleanliness of it's restaurants. Had breakfast in the healthy choice area in Terminal 2. Food was good but the table chairs and floor all around were filthy went to another table/area same problem - ended up going to get paper napkins and cleaning the table myself. The seating/floor area needs a thorough cleaning at night time when there are less people eating at the restaurant. We travel a lot and Manchester airport has the potential to be a first class facility.

Travelled to Tenerife on 3rd Jun. Long queues at check-in desks really bad queues on return on 17th Jun at border control on return to UK. Returned on flight of 350 people and only 4 personnel at border control queuing for 30 mins. Then sent to the wrong carousel for baggage our bags were nowhere in sight. We were told to go to another carousel and a few bags from our flight appeared. Then there was another wait of about 20 mins with no bags before they started to appear. In total it took us 1.5 hrs to clear the airport. It is disgraceful. This is certainly not the first time we have had problems with border control queues and baggage collection at this airport. We will travel from East Midlands in the future.

Flight to Cork and to Tel Aviv. Fast procedures good check in with Aer Lingus flight little bit tiresome procedures with Jet2. Good shops and restaurants just one comment the customs service not always open (VAT refund).

If you are disabled then avoid this airport at all cost. Arrived at T3 at 4am checked in and told to go to the assistance area which was closed and would not be open to 5am arriving there found no seats - there are seats inside when open but when closed none! Finally checked in at the assistance area but computers down so pen and paper out and the fiasco continued we were late to board and the guy who was helping us must be the most miserable man I have ever met. On the return I found myself being given a free tour of Manchester Airport as the staff tried countless times with their swipe cards and codes as they tried to get a convoy of disabled people to the right place.

The first time I have been through Terminal 2 since improvements completed and was very impressed. There was no wait at Security shops and seating are now far better and there is more choice of food. On arrival no wait at immigration and the bags only took a few minutes to arrive. I made it from the stand to the arrivals hall in under 15 minutes!

Evening flight short 5 minute walk from station to T1 check-in queue no longer than 10 minutes. Security fast track very efficient not that the regular queue was huge staff at security efficient cleared in 5 minutes. Airside lots of shops not a fan of walking through duty free and way finding through this area is very poor. Good choice of shops with 3 bars and 2 restaurants that weren't particularly overpriced. On return immigration busy but used the new E-Passport gates. Our luggage arrived in around 20 minutes and a short walk back to the station on a bus home within 35 mins of landing. MAN has had its fair share of problems over the years the up-and-down flights of stairs to access gates but it is much improved since refurbishment.

Terminal 2. Improved Check-in (KLM) efficient and quick Security - more space and less grumpy. As bad as ever : wall of retail as soon as you're through security lack of quiet places to sit and wait.

I fly weekly from T3 and frequently from T1 and T2. Compared to other airports I use its standard of cleanliness and trasnport connectivity is pretty good. Queues at security are often long but move quickly and announcements are made for any customers on soon-departing flights to be fast-tracked. When I've dealt with airport staff they've been courteous and efficient. Facilities at each terminal are pretty good if expensive but they aren't the worst I've come across! Note that proceeds from the £1 charge for a resealable bag for liquids go to a local childrens charity not to the airport. The main issue is that airport really needs to improve its layout - the ad hoc development over the past 5-10 years has left it a bit of a mess and inefficient which had a negative effect on your overall impression.

Forcing you to walk through the duty-free shops to get to your gate is a crass marketing stunt and probably has the opposite effect of what they want if people are like me it makes me keep my hands firmly in my pocket and not spend anything in any of the shops. With online check-in if your plane's on time you can get to the gate sharpish and not have to use the cafes or shops! Also the sheer volume of retail space means there are few areas to sit in and the flight display boards are difficult to find. All this spoils what otherwise is a fine airport good rail land bus links and fairly quick passage through security.