[cwoodward]

A Which survey ranking the UK’s 24 best and worst airports for 2023 has rated Liverpool John Lennon as the UK’s best airport according to the nearly 4,000 travellers that rated this as the UK’s best airport according to 4,000 travellers surveyed to rate their experiences.
London City was second place and Southampton Airport ranks third. Meanwhile, Manchester Airport seemingly ranks at the bottom of most people’s list with its long security wait times, prices in shops, check-in queues,it rated one star for seating.

Not unexpectedly Manchester Airport was quick to respond saying ‘that the Which? survey makes criticism that it does not believe represent an accurate reflection of the airport’s operations’.
A ‘Which’ survey seems pretty likely to be accurate to me and from others experiences and my last visit in late 2019.
Better that they do something to fix the dump than as usual deny all the facts.

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RossMac, Johnnyg, FDOS, esselle

[stevescoots]

having used MAN 2 or 3 times in past 12 months I agree that MAN is…less than appealing!

[Rferguson2]

Completely and unequivocally agree.

The place is an absolute dump that is also a disgrace in the way it operates.

I avoid it at all costs.

Last weekend I unfortunately had to depart T3. Well aware of their ridiculous OTT security (they have digital displays now showing the ‘reject’ rate of bags – it was 64% when I was passing through) I checked and double checked that my bags were compliant. Going through security one of my bags was ‘rejected’ and ended up in the queue behind around fifteen other bags.

Whilst I was waiting the half an hour to have my bag searched I was watching the security staff triumphantly revealing the results of the other fails – for example one of those toothbrush sets you get in hotels or airline washbags with 3ml of toothpaste. Insane.

My turn finally comes. A truly fed up staff member opens my bag, makes a beeline for my pen/pencil case, opens it, looks in and closes it. ‘That’s fine you can go’. I enquired ‘well what was I stopped for’. Her – ‘Something in the pencil case’. ‘What in the pencil case’? Her – ‘I can’t say’. Fully aware there were only pens, pencils and a highlighter in there I asked to speak to a supervisor. To be fair he was as pleasant as could be and I wouldn’t envy his job. ‘Oh it was the fluorescent highlighter than had your bag rejected’. Me – ‘why? I carry this for my work and have had no issues in ANY other airport – ever’. Him – ‘Oh I can’t really discuss it but fluro markers are an issue’. Massive eye roll.

But what riles me more than anything about this embarrassment? This third rate facility made a profit of £412M in the 2022-2023 financial year. They should be ashamed.

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cwoodward, RossMac, scott1nthesky, esselle, FDOS

[TonyR]

I would fully agree with the Manchester ranking. Dreadful airport. Moving walkways switched off (presumably to save money). Have done a deal on ATMs that mean you have to pay for cash withdrawals – none of the High Street bank ATMs permitted. Charging for trolleys in arrivals. No airside international transfers.

Last trip I arrived on Virgin from BGI transferring to Emirates. Had to go through immigration, do the long walk between terminals carrying my luggage (no coins for a trolley) with all the walkways switched off, sit for two hours in a freezing lobby area without cash because check-in couldn’t accept me (something to do with baggage handling not able to handle two Emirates flight checking in at the same time) before going back through security and finally getting to the Emirates lounge. At LHR would simply have done an airside transfer in the warm straight to the lounge and a few hours rest.

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FDOS

[FDOS]

“‘Oh I can’t really discuss it but fluro markers are an issue’”

On a par with the time I was stopped at STN, as the security guy was concerned I might use masking tape (low strength/easy tear) to tie up the aircrew.

Genius level thinking.

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cwoodward, AndrewinHK, esselle

[Inquisitive]

Totally agree about Manchester airport review that it is among the worst. I transited several times for my journey from Singapore to Houston and back and bad experience each time.

Even airside there is a security check for transit passengers and in my opinion the security stuff take pleasure by opening bags! That also means they do not trust Singapore or USA check and their own airport’s air side! And I do not carry doubtful items, not even fluorescent markers!

Also if the flight arrives 15-20 minutes earlier, many times it had to wait in taxiway. How come an airport is not ready if a flight arrives a little bit early and no there were no plane at the gate.

[RossMac]

Until 2020 I was taking 50+ flights per year for previous 15-20 or so years. The vast majority were from Manchester, my local airport. I am sad the airport has declined so badly and needlessly. Apologies for nostalgia, but I (Silver) used to look forward to my visits to BMI then BA lounges in T3 – very personal service and decent facilities.
The queues when using ‘Fastrack’ are inexcusable. You are using it because you’ve paid directly or indirectly. I have experienced queues of over 90 minutes in T1. I’ve not seen that elsewhere. The staff actually make themselves scarce when queues form, rather than dealing with the situation. (I am not commenting on those caused by people unfamiliar with current(!) restrictions.)
The security checks are indeed ‘odd’. I’m not sure what training is given to staff, but I’ve had my hand-luggage referred for manual inspection a number of times, never legitimately. Usually no reason is given, but my top 3 have been: “we needed to check it was a belt” (it was placed separately on the tray after I removed it in front of security guard), “too many wires” (early on I took to bundling any cables etc into single drawstring bag, whish I always placed separately in tray) and “too many sweets for hand-luggage” (referring to my 4-pack of mints from Poundland). Funny, but each took 30-45 minutes waiting.
T1 and T3 seem to actively encourage drinking from the early hours, rather than providing seating. (I believe they’ve recently introduced a 2pint glass to cut queues at the bar.) The newly revamped T2 is truly awful. Queues for the limited food vendors lead back to the escalators. I was turned away from the Escape Lounge at 05:50 on a Sunday morning due to it being “full” – though I could see it was virtually empty. Just all adds to a negative experience.
I have literally just come from picking up my daughter & partner from T2, after a tortuous return from Spain. I entered car park and joined a queue to park – the signs were in red saying it was “FULL”. I did find my daughter and got them into the car whilst queuing. It eventually became apparent that the queues were to exit the place. There are 2 lanes for ‘Exit’, but they are the same as those for ‘Express Pick-up’, in use primarily by taxis and mini-buses. The 2 lanes are then forced into a single lane, for no apparent reason – but it doesn’t bring out the best in people. This single lane then routes you to the 4 exit gates, where there were 2 people in high-viz jackets pointing you to the gate that didn’t have a car in it. I think they would be better used supervising a merge-in-turn system at the prior junction. You have to pay £6 for 30 minutes from entry. It took me 20 minutes to get through this. I saw lots of families and people in wheel chairs etc for whom I could imagine that limit would be a challenge. I’m appalled that this is such a badly designed/operated brand new facility. Why not have dedicated lanes and staff where queues are forming?
In light of the ‘Which?’ report, hopefully management might undertake some more floor-walking round security, pick-up & drop off, etc – ideally on their own and as a passenger/user?
My neighbour’s (ex-BA ground crew of 20+ years) has a son and family who live in Spain and regularly visit. He admits to me that he is embarrassed when they use Manchester Airport. That’s pretty damning.
Sorry to be negative, it is meant to be constructive, I want Manchester to have a decent airport.
Ps I never ever paid to get dropped off – there are little areas you can find – the staff use them too. I would now say the same for T2 pick-up, there are many bays and bus stops to pull in to.

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Inquisitive

[TonyR]

“ In light of the ‘Which?’ report, hopefully management might undertake some more floor-walking round security, pick-up & drop off, etc – ideally on their own and as a passenger/user?”

I doubt it very much given their “nothing wrong” response in the article and the fact that if they can’t recognise the problems without having Which point them out they are probably not going to be able to come up with solutions.

[Author]

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