Manchester Airport

I agree with the recent reviews that Manchester airport is on a downwards spiral . In September we found the T1 shopping mall claustrophobic with no real seating area and the food is poor. We were delayed and enquired about a childrens area which there is none or even a decent seating area. It seems to be about squeezing the assets and more worryingly is that nobody has ever replied and made a complaint after we had undertaken the manchester airport online survey! I use T3 once a month for business and is better for speed cleanliness etc but then I use the business lounge what a difference!

I am interested to read Peter Cloney's review from August - I couldn't agree more. I travel through Manchester Airport twice a week which like Peter gives the ability to step back from the short-term issues which often side-track passengers in their critique. I regularly contact the airport management team with my concerns and am yet to hear back on any issue despite their promise of getting back to you within 5 working days. Recently I was travelling with hand luggage only and as instructed at security I placed any fluids in a tray along with my phone keys etc. The only fluid I had was a single tube of toothpaste which I placed in the tray. I was informed that even though it was a single item I still needed a clear plastic bag which I would have to buy for £1. Even though it seems ridiculous to need a clear bag for 1 item (I thought the clear bags were to keep your fluids together and limit the amount you could take on board - I highly doubt that a plastic bag improves the view that the security controller gets of your liquids and gels) I agreed only to find that the point where I had to buy the bag was after security! Added to this absurd procedure was the fact that I was treated with utter contempt by the staff on duty. My other gripe are the drop-off arrangements at T1. They have made some changes where now cars and taxis have to pull into one of 15 parking spaces rather than simply dumping their passengers by the door to the terminal. This causes horrendous tail backs often onto the M56 spur.

Been using Manchester Airport for 20 years at least 3 times a month often more frequently. This long-term user history gives me the ability to step back from the short-term issues which often side-track passengers in their critique. I am completely clear in my mind that for the last 5 years this airport has been and remains on a downward spiral in terms of virtually every key aspect which is important to all passengers and particularly to regular users. The overall cleanliness of Terminal 1 is on a par with a third world city bus terminus the appallingly slowly speed of baggage claim from the carousels even at the quietest times of the day beggars belief as to why everything takes so long the extremely frequent failure of the advanced car-park booking system at the critical moment of inserting the credit card in the barrier to leave the car-park is so well known and feared in my company that no one trusts it now to use it. But the worse aspect of the whole airport and its management is that no one appears to care. No one responds to complaints no one is interested. The only interest appears to be the promotion of as many retails outlets as possible within the complex. As viewed by many of my non-UK colleagues this airport is one to avoid and if business can be done outside NW England with the benefit of avoiding Manchester Airport so much the better in their view.

I've been using Terminal 3 twice weekly for the last few months. With on-line check-in after a short walk from the railway station I'm in the departure lounge ten to fifteen minutes from arrival at the terminal. The staff seem to have made efforts to smooth the passage through security. A turnstile system gains entry operated by the barcode on your boarding pass. Staff are employed to help should you encounter a problem with this. There is a fast-moving queue for scanners. Shopping and food facilities are limited but adequate. Gates can be a bit cramped but I've yet to fail to find a seat. Signage is good. Arrival is no problem and there is a drop-off/pick-up area nearby so you can be away very fast. Long term on-site parking can be problematic as it gets very full but there are other options.

First upon disembarkation from an airbridge you have to go down two flights of stairs turn left and then climb up to what was exactly the same level a few yards away. Ridiculous. Then the automatic passport reader could not read my passport upon which I was told that my passport "does not have a chip" (despite displaying the chip symbol on the cover) and told to go to a manned desk. There my passport could not be scanned either (although it had been scanned at FRA without a problem a few hours earlier that afternoon). Strangely when handed to yet another immigration counter scanning happened instantly. When departing from Gate 22 the same unbelievable architectural obstacle presented itself in reverse: go down two flight of stairs turn right and climb back to the same level as before. Needs improving!

Arriving on overnight flight from Doha at 8am. Coinciding with flights from Orlando and others meant that the queue at immigration was very long. And guess what - the biometric machines not working so I couldn't fast track. And also there were only half the desks open. So it took an age to get through. Maybe planes arriving early morning is a surprise for the authorities. And I still had to wait for my bags. I have just returned from Iran and they were much more efficient! And don't get me started on the fact that you have to pay to be picked up by car. Why don't they introduce a 30 minute free parking if they dont want people clogging up a pick up lane? Many other airports do that. Its a pity as recently this airport seemed to have improved its baggage reclaim speed.

Flew in and out of T2. While queuing for the baggage drop on the outward trip I was not impressed by a group of yobs fighting (in one case vomiting) in the check-in area and less impressed by the sight of airport staff studiously ignoring them. The queue for security was 8-10 minutes and perfectly reasonable. I don't like being forced to walk through the duty free shop to get to the plane though - tacky. Free copies of the Manchester Evening News in the airside waiting area are a nice touch. On the return trip there was no more than a 2-3 minute queue for immigration and 10-15 for luggage reclaim which seems reasonable.

T3 Easyjet to Corsica. No problems. Staff pleasant and helpful. Good choice of shops and cafes after security. Spacious departure lounges. Luggage on carousel straight after landing. Easy walk from the Radisson Hotel and to the T3 long stay car park. Immigration officials - the all too common unnecessary unpleasant attitude - what a welcome back to the UK.

Manchester T2. Some improvements since last use - better arrangements for security - where they've followed the T1 model and descoped landside in favour of more space for security and airside. But once through security you have to force your way through the usual plethora of shops to get to any seating areas. Returning revealed Manchester at its worst. Early arrival completely surprised the place (as usual) with no-one around to operate airbridge. No travelators working though we were at the extremity of the terminal. Enormous queue at passport control. New machines installed to handle biometric passsports worked OK - certainly better than IRIS (that wouldn't be hard) - and allowed a bit of fast-tracking. Luggage retrieval very slow. On exit from baggage hall total chaos as meeters & greeters were being allowed to completely bottle up the exit pathway. Needless to say no-one from the airport was to be seen trying to ease passenger flow. Despite some improvements it remains a desperate airport and a far cry from its glory days in the 70s. Still there are a lot of shops and that's the only thing that really appears to interest the administration.

Outbound I was pleased with the service apart from the inevitable queues at security partly caused by passengers who are not prepared for screening and hold the rest of us up. Not the fault of the airport other than the fact that too few scanners were in operation and there was inadequate notices about what to expect. Inbound made to queue in a totally inadequate passport hall which was clearly undergoing renovation. Only two desks and no automated or IRIS systems. Baggage seemed to take forever.