Is Manchester airport the worst in Europe?

[N1985]

In and through in 5 minutes. Don't think that counts at 3am though.

 

[ChicagoBlue]

What a bunch of whiners! :-)

Next time, save yourself the 30-60 mins of hassle and drive, go by bus, or even boat and experience what “super nice” travel experiences those are!

Hasn’t MAN won multiple Airport of the Year Awards?

Is it just the Security staff and having to pay to park and get a trolley for that cheap ass suitcase you bought without wheels?

Can’t say I’ve ever flown in as a crew member, but I’ve never had a minutes bother getting in, out or through the Airport. Is it a more recent, pandemic-related issue?

I saw where Heathrow T5 was telling people to forget picking up their bags recently, because they weren’t coming!!! That’s ballsy!

 

[RobMCFC]

What a bunch of whiners! :-)

Next time, save yourself the 30-60 mins of hassle and drive, go by bus, or even boat and experience what “super nice” travel experiences those are!

Hasn’t MAN won multiple Airport of the Year Awards?

Is it just the Security staff and having to pay to park and get a trolley for that cheap ass suitcase you bought without wheels?

Can’t say I’ve ever flown in as a crew member, but I’ve never had a minutes bother getting in, out or through the Airport. Is it a more recent, pandemic-related issue?

I saw where Heathrow T5 was telling people to forget picking up their bags recently, because they weren’t coming!!! That’s ballsy!

View attachment 39344

It wasn't a massive issue pre-pandemic, although there did seem times when the security at arrivals was busy and they were understaffed. In fact going back 5 years or more, I remember happily telling people that we had a great airport in Manchester.

So yes, it's a pandemic-related issue where they haven't enough staff the man the security lanes. However, I don't recall reading about any significant issues at any other UK airports, so I don't know why it's such a big issue here. For the management to claim they are experiencing "unexpected volumes of passengers" is laughable. Don't they know how many planes are taking off and how many passengers are on each?

So whilst I haven't experienced hours-long waits through security in the last three years, I have experienced being shoved shoulder-to-shoulder against people in an inadequately small security space several times. I'm no expert in these matters but it feels very much to me like they have taken on too many flights for the size of terminals.

I don''t think MAN will be winning any awards in the near future, but if they do, it will be in the same manner that Mad Vlad wins elections by such a comfortable margin.

 

[Deleted member 77198]

Manchester Airport is easily the worst airport I've had the misfortune of flying from and into. I've never been to any other airport - even in the UK - that is as bad. Even in "Second World" countries, their airports are a joy compared to Manchester.

Dropping off and picking up are horrendous. They are trying to leach every single penny from anyone who has to pass within it's grounds. I feel sorry for the taxi drivers who have to go through it. We don't even offer to drop off or pick up our own families as it's just an absolute pain to do so. Getting taxis to come down is a pain too. However, if you want to use one of the taxis at the airport, you will be rinsed for cash. I know black cabs are more expensive, but the ones at the airport charge double what other black cabs charge. My wife was in one back up to Failsworth and the driver stopped the meter at £60 once. The local firms would drive down and bring you back for £25.

The queues for security and passports are always long. There's never enough security on and I've sometimes queued up over an hour to get through. The biometric gates are useless as well.

Waiting for bags takes ages and they want £1 to be able to get a trolley. Foreign visitors are unlikely to have £1 coins so what does it say about us?

I've always felt that the impression of a country or city starts at it's airport. The impression we give to visitors is that we're obsessed with getting money out of you and we're difficult, slow and scruffy. It is a disgrace to the city that airport. It should be taken off the current owners.

We've tried our best not to fly from there now. Depending on what we are doing, we try to fly from Liverpool or Bradford where possible as it's less stressful to drive to those places than from our "local" airport. Unfortunately, we're flying from there in a few weeks to go on holiday and I'm dreading it reading some of the reports - and I suspect very little will change by the time we get there.

Indeed. The two first impressions people get from this city are the airport and Piccadilly, and the rest of the world must be wholly unimpressed with either/both and therefore unimpressed with Manchester full stop.

Getting off the train at Piccadilly then walking to Piccadilly Gardens is the most unwelcoming part of any city centre anywhere I’ve ever been. Mariupol is probably only just edging it out for first place now.

 

[Sir peace frog]

Manchester Airport has it's faults many faults, but you really have to take the pandemic into account, thousands of staff left or were layed off over the last couple of years, and today recruitment is going on all over the airport, once upon a time we would advertise jobs and for every job there would be 20 applicants, at the moment people just don't seem interested in working at the airport, the pay and shift patterns are not very appealing, not bad but could be better, the companies that work at the airport are skint,

Many passengers book through buget airlines get the cheapest fares possible, these buget airlines just don't pay alot to the handling company's but take up vast resources

as for the issues at security, again imo it's down to shortages in staffing levels, that again is down partly to the pandemic and attraction of the pay,conditions and shifts ,I'm off to work in a minute off to the "worst airport in the world " and I fucking love it ,

 

[doots]

Manchester Airport has it's faults many faults, but you really have to take the pandemic into account, thousands of staff left or were layed off over the last couple of years, and today recruitment is going on all over the airport, once upon a time we would advertise jobs and for every job there would be 20 applicants, at the moment people just don't seem interested in working at the airport, the pay and shift patterns are not very appealing, not bad but could be better, the companies that work at the airport are skint,

Many passengers book through buget airlines get the cheapest fares possible, these buget airlines just don't pay alot to the handling company's but take up vast resources

as for the issues at security, again imo it's down to shortages in staffing levels, that again is down partly to the pandemic and attraction of the pay,conditions and shifts ,I'm off to work in a minute off to the "worst airport in the world " and I fucking love it ,

Is this why Manchester Airport charge so much for dropping off/collecting people at the terminals?
I'm sure they were ripping us off pre pandemic with these ridiculously high parking charges.
(not a dig at you mate,i just can't believe the airport is skint).

 

[ChicagoBlue]

Is this why Manchester Airport charge so much for dropping off/collecting people at the terminals?
I'm sure they were ripping us off pre pandemic with these ridiculously high parking charges.
(not a dig at you mate,i just can't believe the airport is skint).

Ever run a business where 95% of your customers disappear for a few years, then suddenly all want back in?

Me, neither, but I have seen the challenges first hand…and took a 30% pay cut to keep about 4,000 fellow pilots in a job (even at half pay, the benefits are very valuable to one’s family) through all this shit! Throw in about 2,000 early retirements and a minimum 3 month training program and even pilot training (which is not a minimum wage job, but requires years of prior experience) is running full tilt to try to catch up with rapidly increasing demand…but simply stealing workers from the smaller carriers who don’t have enough qualified pilots to replace them!

It’s literally like a blocked pipe that has suddenly released. Problem is, you turned the pressure off 2 yrs ago, when it hit blocked, but now everyone wants their water, and at full pressure, but it takes time for it to build back up in the pipeline! So, for now, you have to live with the trickle!

For the FOCs, yes, it’s just like your bladder and prostate issues!

 

[Sir peace frog]

Is this why Manchester Airport charge so much for dropping off/collecting people at the terminals?
I'm sure they were ripping us off pre pandemic with these ridiculously high parking charges.
(not a dig at you mate,i just can't believe the airport is skint).

Don't know about the drop off charges, I personally think it's wrong, think its £3 to drop off, but if you pick someone up in the drop off zone I think you're charged £100 ,haha cheeky fuckers, I have to go through security sometimes upto 5 time's a day, and I know how frustrating it can be, I know what I'm doing so everything is in bags or belts off, passengers don't know what they are doing and can take age's to get through staff shortage iis the major problem though

 

[doots]

Ever run a business where 95% of your customers disappear for a few years, then suddenly all want back in?

Me, neither, but I have seen the challenges first hand…and took a 30% pay cut to keep about 4,000 fellow pilots in a job (even at half pay, the benefits are very valuable to one’s family) through all this shit! Throw in about 2,000 early retirements and a minimum 3 month training program and even pilot training (which is not a minimum wage job, but requires years of prior experience) is running full tilt to try to catch up with rapidly increasing demand…but simply stealing workers from the smaller carriers who don’t have enough qualified pilots to replace them!

It’s literally like a blocked pipe that has suddenly released. Problem is, you turned the pressure off 2 yrs ago, when it hit blocked, but now everyone wants their water, and at full pressure, but it takes time for it to build back up in the pipeline! So, for now, you have to live with the trickle!

For the FOCs, yes, it’s just like your bladder and prostate issues!

I said pre pandemic, ye olde cunte :-)

 

[Trevor Morley's Tache]

Don't know about the drop off charges, I personally think it's wrong, think its £3 to drop off, but if you pick someone up in the drop off zone I think you're charged £100 ,haha cheeky fuckers, I have to go through security sometimes upto 5 time's a day, and I know how frustrating it can be, I know what I'm doing so everything is in bags or belts off, passengers don't know what they are doing and can take age's to get through staff shortage iis the major problem though

I travel to the USA 2 or 3 times a year with work and security becomes second nature. It's amazing though just how many passengers loose their sh*t going through security, because they just haven't got a clue what they are doing. This is partly down to the security staff not being very helpful, but mostly it's just dumb people.

For most people it's dead simple. Once you are in the security queue, it's belt off, jacket off, pockets emptied and all placed in the top of your carry on bag, shoes off (if required) and place one single bag and one pair of shoes in the trays. Once through, pick up your bag/shoes, put the trays in the pile and MOVE AWAY. Slip your shoes back on and then find a quiet spot to sort yourself out.

Unfortunately for me it's not always that simple. I'm usually carrying 2 or 3 laptops, so it can be a bit of a nightmare if security is busy. But that's usually down to the other passengers just being a bit sh*t.