Manchester Airport

Not Verified | I travel through Manchester Airport about once a year. Last year's experience was very bad, but I may just be lucky because this time things had improved a lot. Security at departure was quick and the staff were cheerful, even though it was 6am in the morning. The departure lounge was comfortable and clean, and the food and drink was fine. On return a few days later everything went like clockwork. The steps were at the aircraft door just a couple of minutes after the plane came to a halt, the automatic passport readers were all working properly, and the baggage handlers must have been on steroids as our cases appeared on the carousel just as we reached it. From touchdown to car park in 30 minutes. Must be a record!

Not Verified | Truly one of the worst airports in Europe. Hopeless info screens, useless live announcements, overcrowded public areas, pathetic choice of catering outlets, bad boarding areas. Totally unsuited to coping with traffic. The train is a long walk from T3 and the security checks are rubbish.

Not Verified | I arrived at MAN from CDG after transferring from an international flight. You get on a bus to transfer processing, go through security, and get on another bus to your terminal. The buses come every 10-15 minutes. Just so you know how it works in Manchester’s less than perfect world. I go through security. I’m scanned and frisked. The security people took out everything – infinitesimal amounts of gels, creams, liquids and brushes (really, are brushes weaponized now?) from my bag and told me to put them in a quart size container. I had to throw away a number of larger containers with tiny bits inside. Security kept saying “your airline makes us to this.” Right. Not DL or AF or any other airline I’ve flown during my millions of miles of travel. Then they tell me to go to T2 to get my connection. I go out the door and into the elevator. The lounges are above. I go there. And no one will let me in. I’m flying Business Class. A security worker sees this and says I am in T1, not T2. He says this happens all the time (probably because there are no signs). So, he walks me down to the transfer bus. And it won’t take me from T1 to T2. I need to go through security again. Again, scanned, frisked, my infinitesimal paraphernalia taken out and put in a bag. Now I find out T2 is only accessible from the lower level. Upstairs are the lounges for T1. Where's the sign? The elevator opens onto another sad little “bussing” room to T2. I get to a lounge in T2 and I’m told I can’t come in. I ask for a manager and she apologizes and tells me I can come in because I'm flying Business. And my name is on the “list.” The lounge has a few seats, miserable food, no bathroom, but thankfully a self-serve bar which I made good use of. Total transfer time: 2 hours. Never again will I fly Virgin, AF, or Delta through Manchester and neither should you– transferring through this airport is like traveling through all the levels of hell.

Not Verified | The airport seem to be employing rude and belligerent 'thugs' in stab vests in the parking areas. The parking area is confusing at best, but to be shouted at and made to feel threatened by a bully is disgraceful at a modern airport in the uk. An awful start to my journey.

✅ Trip Verified | Security at this airport is the most officious, pedantic and unfriendly I have experienced anywhere. This inflexible adherence to unnecessary detail - in what tray to put my belt, where my boots, where my jacket etc is also inefficient and slow. Above all, it lacked any human warmth; passengers were being grilled. I have used a lot of airports; this is a new low.

✅ Trip Verified | My wife was unfortunate enough to develop pneumonia whilst on a cruise last week, we were told by medics as she was struggling with breathing she should use a wheelchair. As we arrived at Palma airport I asked for some help, within seconds a wheelchair arrived a trolley for the luggage and an assistant took my wife's chair straight through to check-in even though we were very early they accepted our cases and put us both on a golf buggy and took us to a designated disablement section, it was an extremely smooth and sleek operation. it could not have been easier. We then landed at Manchester T2 What a difference, one bloke on his own trying to help 8 wheelchair-bound passengers, I asked another assistant if someone could help as I had two suitcases and two rucksacks and a wife in a wheelchair to be told sorry its not my job mate. So my wife had to walk slowly holding onto the luggage trolley which incidentally cost me a pound to use. The taxi phoned us to say he had arrived but it turned out to be a ten-minute walk to the pick-up point, I had to leave my wife trying to walk slowly behind me who eventually couldn't go any further so I had to go back and get her a wheelchair. When we eventually got to the barrier the driver needed to pay more as we had gone over the half hour limit. This has to be one of the worst airports in the world

✅ Trip Verified | We were at terminal 2 and the walk to the gate was far too long as we were right at the end both going and coming back after a long haul flight. We are two pensioners and it was ridiculous. On return we had to queue up for ages and ages to get through security. We noticed people with none European passports just sailed through. For an international airport its a disgrace. Also a lot of the travelators to and from the station were not working again for pensioners and an international airport its a disgrace. We have travelled tens of time from this airport but it is getting worse.

✅ Trip Verified | Awful, low-down third-world grade airport, with matching travel experience. In fact, it does not even give justice to third world airports that I have experienced, as these have not yet cottoned up to the idea of charging for dropping and picking up passengers. It pains me to give this shameful verdict on this, my regional airport that I have to endure as a frequent traveler. The unpleasantness starts from the approach to the airport, to the shambolic check-in areas, security and baggage handling. It fills me with a degree of shame when I conjure in my head the experiences I have at other international airports. How did we come to this?

Not Verified | Absolutely humiliated at security! I was pushed on without my mum and dad had to go by myself while my parents were behind, bag got searched in front of everyone, my parent's cabin bags were both checked in front of everyone, my mum was left standing with no shoes on, security staff rolled eyes when asked to get shoes! Absolutely disgusting being treated like animals in this airport! Security needs more room!

Not Verified | This airport has gone from tolerable to awful. Several pounds are demanded just to drop people off (shocking). Access is awful, organization is awful and with brexit looming the signage and passport control is awful. Huge queues of disgruntled passengers failing to get through automated passport reading gates (because they dont work properly) just adds to the delays. Our supposed friends from the EU treated like 2nd class citizens with signage referring to them just as OTHER while the UK queue has "Its new friends" depicted by signage comprising a picture list of national flags, including USA, Canada Australia and other "anglosphere countries" and a few others such as might have agreed odd trade deals with us like Japan, South Korea etc. The whole thing feels like one would experience in a third world country where by default chaos and confusion reign.