MANCHESTER - 4

[Mr A Tis]

New EU wide rules came in on Nov 1st. The Canary Isles as always ( ala customs) isn't included as EU.
I can assure you security is very thorough in Germany, but on the other hand very efficient, thus few delays.
Yup, I can confirm, a carrier bag from WH Smith with a Daily Mirror in is always refused at security at MAN as a NOT allowed extra bag, delays ensues whilst they put the newspaper in their carry on, if they put the Dail Mirror under their arm & throw the bag away-they are waved through

[Vuelo]

Originally Posted by StoneyBridge Radar

Then we must agree to disagree, as Terminal 1 and 2 departing pax have long been subject to doing a long and winding Can-Can around the landside shopping areas in the summer for many years, with the occassional zig-zag around the buckets in Terminal 1 placed strategically to collect the unique water feature called "leaking roof."
The end winners, bizarrely, are BA and BD. Terminal 3 has the shortest queues, and many business travellers are actually migrating back to connect out of LGW and LHR; now who would have ever thought that would happen to our proud "airport for the regions"???
Stoney

And your figures for this come from where, exactly??

[ManchesterMan]

Mr ATis

I see that we can no longer try and convince you to stay
loyal to your 'local' airfield (for local people!) and sadly we
have got to say goodbye to your custom.

I hope that the grass is greener for you and your family
flying from Liverpool.I should not expect you to have any
further problems with your travelling from there.

Happy Happy Happy new year !!

MM

[FlyZB]

I do agree that the 2 bags ruling is crazy, especially as i've just found out that this is not a DFT requirement and is being imposed by the airport itself.

I go along with Manchester Man's comments. For those of you that are no longer satisfied with the facilities that your local airport provides and choose to travel from elsewhere, then fair play and good luck. It is 2007 and we are lucky enough to have that choice. But I for one will still be using MAN as I support my local airport and live less than 10 minutes away so cannot justify travelling to LPL, LBA or wherever else just because the security queues there are shorter.

When all said and done it's what's most important to you. If you feel you can justify travelling that extra distance just to use an airport that has travellators working all the time or whatever, then great go for it. For me it's a matter of convenience. And like myself, there will be many others that continue to use MAN on a regular basis regardless.

[StoneyBridge Radar]

Originally Posted by ManchesterMan

Mr ATis
I see that we can no longer try and convince you to stay
loyal to your 'local' airfield (for local people!) and sadly we
have got to say goodbye to your custom.
I hope that the grass is greener for you and your family
flying from Liverpool.I should not expect you to have any
further problems with your travelling from there.
Happy Happy Happy new year !!
MM

And doesn't that reply smack of the arrogance shown over the last few years with regard to MAN management and their once loyal customer base. How many people in management who had the same smug cock-sure attitude now regret rejecting the advances of the likes of Easyjet only to see them set up shop 30 miles down the road at an airport they used to look down their noses at.
Sadly, the chances of reality setting in at MAN are remote with comments like that quoted still being bandied around.
WRT figures for people choosing LPL, LHR LGW etc now over MAN, I have none, but I am sure CAA stats will show this, as and when they come out. From a personal perspective, I have observed a trend of now seeing people travelling again via LGW or LHR who I have not seen for years and who, like me, were ardent supporters of anything and everything direct out of MAN (and almost always at extra cost), but who are no thoroughly fed up of everything Terminal 1 and 2, that Terminal 3 is now the departure point of choice, whatever the connection point may be down route.
I can't name the company, but a major chemical and pharmaceutical company with MAN as its nearest departure airport now feeds its staff through Liverpool if possible. Their attitude...? No frequent flier parking anymore in T1, awful lounges in T1 and T2, priority luggage never comes out first at MAN, long queues for security. Without what are perceived as essential business perks being delivered, why not safe a huge chunk of revenue over a year and travel down the road to an airport where they can 'enjoy' a similar lack of facilities, but pay lo-cost fares.
Sad, but fact, and until those supporters wearing rose tinted glasses realise that something is seriously awry, MAN has no prospect of gaining/retaining/clawing back the passenger throughflow its location really does merit.
Stoney

[StoneyBridge Radar]

Originally Posted by FlyZB

I go along with Manchester Man's comments. For those of you that are no longer satisfied with the facilities that your local airport provides and choose to travel from elsewhere, then fair play and good luck. It is 2007 and we are lucky enough to have that choice. But I for one will still be using MAN as I support my local airport and live less than 10 minutes away so cannot justify travelling to LPL, LBA or wherever else just because the security queues there are shorter.
When all said and done it's what's most important to you. If you feel you can justify travelling that extra distance just to use an airport that has travellators working all the time or whatever, then great go for it. For me it's a matter of convenience. And like myself, there will be many others that continue to use MAN on a regular basis regardless.

And you see, there we go with another passive response which could have come straight from current MAN management.
The reality is that MAN have to get real and have a large dose of liquid reality check.
Are you really so conceited and smug about MAN's status to not value every single person who travels through the airport and who airs an opinion? Are you so convinced of your own argument that the air of dissatisfaction expressed so widely has not sunk in ? Are you really happy to turn your back on even one, single passenger? That, my friend, is the attitude of the old legacy carriers , and see where some of them have ended.
People have been raising issues not because they are trying to snipe or support another airport. The vast majority are MAN fliers, loyal to the core, who have been rebuffed, ignored or patronised by MAN and their attitude to them. There comes a point when enough is simply enough.
I really hate to say this, but MAN had everything going for it in the 80's; good management, good customer base, happy operators. The big mistake was that MAN got smug. They rested on their laurels. They thought domination through aquisition was the best ploy. They thought they didn't need the carriers who would open up the world to Joe Average, and as they lost the plot, they neglected their business fliers in the process.
MAN has more than new roofs and lounges to build; they have alot of bridges to build also, some of which I fear have already burned too much to ever be restored.
Stoney

[chiglet]

On a "lighter" note, the Travelators were working tonight [from the Station to T2] at 1010pm
watp,iktch

[Ringwayman]

Funny how the CAA October stats show that both LGW and LHR show a decline in passenger numbers on 2005 (LHR being a particularly large fall of 16%). NOt looked at the other months but suspect LHR has been falling for a while.

[StoneyBridge Radar]

Ringwayman

That is more to do with point to point travellers choosing rail...yet again, business travellers.
A previous post used the argument "Sorry to see you are no longer willing to use your local airport."
How lame.

My nearest grocery store is Sainsbury. I get a better shopping experience and better value at Tesco, another 5 miles away. Do I use my local ? No, I use the provider which gives me the best service at the best price and at minimum inconvenience.

If that means I drive past MAN on my way to Liverpool, then so be it.
MAN management.......WAKE UP ! Can you hear the alarm bells yet ?!!
Stoney

[StoneyBridge Radar]

Originally Posted by Ringwayman

NOt looked at the other months but suspect LHR has been falling for a while.

Perhaps something to do with the fact that BA have converted the shuttle from being a crew bus for it's own long haul staff into a tidy money earner with smaller aircraft but higher yields. See how many BA staff now have to travel on BD for confirmation.

Passenger figures on a route like MAN-LHR can never be used to guage success, and someone so apparently knowledgeable shouldn't try to pull a stunt like that.

Stoney

[FlyZB]

Fair enough Stoney. You are entitled to your opinion as is everyone else on here. I could argue further over your latest comments but I see no point. From the discussion over the past few days it has become clear that there are plenty of people with negative views but also people who support the airport too. Perhaps it's fair to say that no matter what an airport the size of MAN does, it cannot please everyone. Best example is the new security area in T1 being built above MyTravel. A good solution to sorting out the security queues that many have gripes with but now many people are voicing their concerns over the lack of landside facilities, most notably chairs for pax to sleep on. No matter what MAN does, it cannot please everyone. There will always be someone who is unhappy with a decision and thinks they could run the airport better. This is why the likes of Liverpool have an advantage. It's smaller, newer and much more manageable. And with considerably fewer pax per annum than MAN it can cater for the individual needs of its passengers with greater ease. Do you really think it would be like this though if it too had 22 million passengers passing through its terminals. Perhaps not...

Anyway, we could all keep going round in circles with this debate. Maybe it's time for something positive. Anyone heard any whisperings regarding new routes? Is it likely that Kenyan and Saudi will be coming in? Last I heard talks were in an advanced stage.

[TechProblem]

Im with you on that ZB.

The ammount of work being done at Manchester will be costing alot of money, and cant be done all at once. Last year the arrivals in T1 was renewed, and the apron renewed throughtout last year and into this.

Never mind the runway resurfacing, then T1 airside is getting a new food court area, then the whole of T1 airside is going to be revamped (apart from the piers-but im sure that is on the list) So things are being done, but they cant just close the airport and build a new one.

Lpl has its advantages, but most are low cost and apart from Flyglobespan and someone else there isn't much chance of going long haul now is there.

[dwlpl]

TechProblem

Originally Posted by TechProblem

Lpl has its advantages, but most are low cost and apart from Flyglobespan and someone else there isn't much chance of going long haul now is there.

Who is the someone else?

[TechProblem]

Not sure, it might be in the lpl post. Might have been a American carrier.

[MichaelDoyle]

That other LPL flight is only a charter. To Barbados with TOM

[Vuelo]

Look out for the following new carriers at MAN over the net year - they may well appear!

Kenya Airways
Saudi Arabian
Bellview Airlines

All good stuff for MAN if they do come!

[Shed-on-a-Pole]

For those of you who elect to bypass MAN for the Nirvana that is LPL, fair enough. It's a free market out there. But do remember to keep your £2 in change handy for the turnstiles at LPL security, won't you! Nowhere is perfect.

And as for low fares, have you checked out all the seat-sales currently in progress for ex-MAN flights?

[AUTOGLIDE]

As much as I resent paying £2 for security, it is still better than feeling totally before you even get to the aircraft as is the case at MAN. Plus, I save the £2 in cheaper parking charges anyway.
I don't care about 'suppporting the local airport'. This local airport is a dump. It's just like the seventies and eighties when we had calls to support British Leyland by buying inferior cars.
If MAN does not have the funds to do a decent job, than sell it to BAA. For all the criticism of LHR it's worth remembering it is pushing through 69 million people a year and making a much better use of it's space and resources than MAN. You can also find somewhere decent to eat which is a rarity at MAN. On a more comparable level, LGW is far and away more pleasent than MAN too.

[Bagso]

Just whilst we are comparing locost versus locost, Manchester has more locost services than Liverpool by a considerable margin.

The fact that ALL liverpool flights are locost sometimes appears to imply that it is the NWests leading loCost airport...

.....it isnt and this is sometimes blurred.

The ratio of locost airlines and destinations is much higher at Manchester...

By implication Manchester which is of course is much larger and has a massive infa structure is now trying to run a major international hub with a fair % of lower income from locost airlines than it did 10-15 years ago and has had to adjust accordingly.

The only comparables are Stansted and LGW but are both subsidised by LHR.

Notwithstanding that, there are still some major cock ups here and there from the management which could be avoided....!

just a thought !

[dwlpl]

Originally Posted by Shed-on-a-Pole

For those of you who elect to bypass MAN for the Nirvana that is LPL, fair enough. It's a free market out there. But do remember to keep your £2 in change handy for the turnstiles at LPL security, won't you! Nowhere is perfect.

This has yet to be brought in and I cannot see it being so in the way its been 'publicised'.