Originally Posted by
All names taken
SOAP
What are you talking about? When did you last have to remove items from luggage arriving at T1 Border Control?
The caterwaul that was shouting last night sounded like she was angry about having to do her job, hated people (without whom it seemed her job would have been so much more to her liking) and she just made the whole environment unpleasant and, I surmise from some facial expressions, a little intimidating for those not used to the place.
I stand by the opinion that 'shouty person' is totally un-necessary since as you enter the area you can only go one of three ways: EU / Non EU / E-GATES all of which have enormous signs telling you where to go.
Get that woman sat behind a desk checking passports - that would speed things up.
Not sure what your on about 'all names taken'. I arrived on the delayed flight from Geneva at around 11.30pm. The woman in question, who you say was shouting and unfriendly was nothing of the sort. Although i couldn't really hear what she was saying above the crowd, i did hear here her laughing and joking with passengers.
When passengers are arriving at that time of night, they are usually tired and just want to get home, so are usually more grumpy than at other times of the day. Although the queues were relatively long, i only waited about 10-15 minutes, which is quite reasonable compared to others airports i fly to and from. Another point is that the majority of flights arriving at that time, are all filled with British holiday makers,who probably only use the airport once or twice a year, and probably won't be put off from using it again coz passport control was a little congested.
Unfortunately the customs area for arrivals at Terminal 1 in Manchester is to small, we all know that. For the time being, there's not so much Manchester Airport can do about it until Terminal renovation starts. In my opinion Manchester is no better or worse then most airports i use in Europe or worldwide.