MANCHESTER - 8
Join Date: Sep 2009
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Congrats to MAN for mostly keeping on top of the weather last night, and even accepting a few diversions in the process. Horrible conditions with very wet / slushy snow, but the snow clearing teams seemed to have a strong plan and strategy to keep the runway and main taxiways clear which evidently paid off with only two hours SNOCLO in the end.
Now sleep after a snowy shift from hell
Now sleep after a snowy shift from hell
Join Date: May 2005
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Hi, I know I could probably find this out browsing on the internet, but can any one please tell me who the handling agents are at Manchester?
Thanks in advance.
Thanks in advance.
Swissport
Menzies
Flight Support
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It would appear that the Concorde in the Viewing Park is really made of paper from the headline of this article 
Charity auction for Valentine’s date on (stationery) Concorde : Manchester Airport News Stories
Suzeman
Charity auction for Valentine’s date on (stationery) Concorde : Manchester Airport News Stories
Suzeman
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Swiss/SN/BE
SN operating Swiss flights and could this add more fuel to the fire that flybe will be operating SN flights?
Very difficult to follow the SN fleet movement with RJ85's going and A319/320's arriving but stranger things have happened.
Manchester of course already have flybe on Brussels and no mention of any changes to this arrangement
Pete
Very difficult to follow the SN fleet movement with RJ85's going and A319/320's arriving but stranger things have happened.
Manchester of course already have flybe on Brussels and no mention of any changes to this arrangement
Pete
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Acquisitions
More on the acquisition strategy of MAG from today's MEN
MAG could consider other acquisitions if it fails to buy Stansted. | Manchester Evening News - menmedia.co.uk
If they don't get STN, then they will look into Europe and elsewhere abroad for an airport of roughly MAN's size......
Interesting that this strategy "involves the 10 Greater Manchester councils diluting their stakes in the group....The MEN understands the local authorities will be asked to approve plans to press ahead with the move in the next few weeks. Manchester city council currently owns 55 per cent of MAG, with the other nine councils holding five per cent each. It is understood Manchester city council would remain a majority shareholder under any new structure being considered".
Wonder how the local authorities will react to this considering they make a few useful quid from their ownership of the airport - probably even more needed in these straitened times?
Suzeman
MAG could consider other acquisitions if it fails to buy Stansted. | Manchester Evening News - menmedia.co.uk
If they don't get STN, then they will look into Europe and elsewhere abroad for an airport of roughly MAN's size......
Interesting that this strategy "involves the 10 Greater Manchester councils diluting their stakes in the group....The MEN understands the local authorities will be asked to approve plans to press ahead with the move in the next few weeks. Manchester city council currently owns 55 per cent of MAG, with the other nine councils holding five per cent each. It is understood Manchester city council would remain a majority shareholder under any new structure being considered".
Wonder how the local authorities will react to this considering they make a few useful quid from their ownership of the airport - probably even more needed in these straitened times?
Suzeman
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This is probably years late but just went through Manchester Terminal 1 last week and it's changed so much since I was there last - about 4 years ago.
What struck me how quite it seemed. I was there from about 1pm - 3pm on Thursday and maybe it was a quite time but even looking at the departure board there didn't seem to be too many flights for the rest of the day. All the food/drink facilities seemed pretty empty with almost more staff than customers. I know in pax terms it is about the same as Dublin which seemed much busier.
I remember going to Manchester a few times as a kid and always remember the roof of the terminal building which was pretty striking. Now there is virtually nothing on departure level before going through to the gates and I couldn't understand where all the space had been changed until going through to the massive security area and then the massive duty free area. Does it make sense to lose all the landside facilities and put everything airside? It might seem strange but I thought the airport was missing something without the landside terminal I remember.
I have never been in an airport where you have to virtually go through a maze to get to the gates through the biggest duty free shop I have ever seen and I thought I was going through the wrong way - again there didn't seem to be many customers there buying anything. On the plus side there were many good choices for food/drink in the departures area airside.
Two complaints I have though are about the gates and flight announcements. We were going from gate 7 and when I got down there it was just stand around until the flights were called - no seats at all. This doesn't seem a good way of giving customers a good experience and then it was weird to go to a gate on one side of the concourse and cross under to board from the other side - are all the gates like that in Manchester? No seats and criss cross the pier to board?
Also about 25 minutes before departure a final call announcement was made. With the crowd of people standing around a few approached the gate quickly enough trying to board, probably thinking the others were waiting for a different flight, and were met with a daggers look and a scowl from the ground crew and were told 'wait like everybody else'. When they said about the announcement she barked at them 'it's automated'. She might know that from working there every day but pax wouldn't know that. Again very poor customer service but why are there automated announcements telling pax to do something that they can't do?
Also I only found out later that they have a smoking area in the departures area but I didn't see any signs for it in the terminal. That's a great facility to have for those of us that smoke but I didn't even know they had one.
Just wondering what people who use the airport regularly think about these things?
While I was there I got to see an A380 for the first time and saw the Emirates machine take off in the cloud and rain so that was a first for me.
What struck me how quite it seemed. I was there from about 1pm - 3pm on Thursday and maybe it was a quite time but even looking at the departure board there didn't seem to be too many flights for the rest of the day. All the food/drink facilities seemed pretty empty with almost more staff than customers. I know in pax terms it is about the same as Dublin which seemed much busier.
I remember going to Manchester a few times as a kid and always remember the roof of the terminal building which was pretty striking. Now there is virtually nothing on departure level before going through to the gates and I couldn't understand where all the space had been changed until going through to the massive security area and then the massive duty free area. Does it make sense to lose all the landside facilities and put everything airside? It might seem strange but I thought the airport was missing something without the landside terminal I remember.
I have never been in an airport where you have to virtually go through a maze to get to the gates through the biggest duty free shop I have ever seen and I thought I was going through the wrong way - again there didn't seem to be many customers there buying anything. On the plus side there were many good choices for food/drink in the departures area airside.
Two complaints I have though are about the gates and flight announcements. We were going from gate 7 and when I got down there it was just stand around until the flights were called - no seats at all. This doesn't seem a good way of giving customers a good experience and then it was weird to go to a gate on one side of the concourse and cross under to board from the other side - are all the gates like that in Manchester? No seats and criss cross the pier to board?
Also about 25 minutes before departure a final call announcement was made. With the crowd of people standing around a few approached the gate quickly enough trying to board, probably thinking the others were waiting for a different flight, and were met with a daggers look and a scowl from the ground crew and were told 'wait like everybody else'. When they said about the announcement she barked at them 'it's automated'. She might know that from working there every day but pax wouldn't know that. Again very poor customer service but why are there automated announcements telling pax to do something that they can't do?
Also I only found out later that they have a smoking area in the departures area but I didn't see any signs for it in the terminal. That's a great facility to have for those of us that smoke but I didn't even know they had one.
Just wondering what people who use the airport regularly think about these things?
While I was there I got to see an A380 for the first time and saw the Emirates machine take off in the cloud and rain so that was a first for me.
You raise quite a few points.
Middle of a Winter weekday is usually very quiet for T1 and MAN as a whole. Plus with a rather large departure lounge, airline lounges and gate areas a few hundred people can easily disperse.
MAN T1 was rather unique or atleast a rarity in that rampside views could be obtained landside. That has now changed which is a shame I guess. However, going through security after check in is the norm for a hell of a lot of airports these days. I personally don't see the issue. Meanwhile the security search area does seem to be pretty efficient on the face of it.
Duty Free wise, you do get quite a few 'enthusiasts' on this and similar forums whinging about having to walk through duty free. Again I really don't see the issue. It's pleasant and does it really matter whether you have perfumme and cosmetics or a corridor walls at either side of you as you walk through to the lounge? For those who don't know, it is pretty wide pathway that happens to go through duty/tax free. We often forget that MAN has a very high propensity of leisure travellers for whom duty free and airport retail forms part of their airport experience. Certainly my partner and many of my friends arrive in good time so they can browse and buy. On the actual departure lounge in T1, I think it's a pretty good experience.
B pier at T1 isn't the best. It's old and it's been adapted to death, particularly with regards to passenger segregation which is why you go up and down. From the outside looking at the West side of the pier it looks awful. On the main floor of the pier it's not that bad an experience, it's bright, doesn't look 'too' outdated though more seating is required as you say. Downstairs isn't great at all. Ideally it could do with a rebuild but nothing on the cards as yet.
Automated announcements. I think they sound quite nice. They seem to do the job. In your instance I think an announcement or two by the gate team (which may have been made) could have made it clear that boarding will be commencing shortly. The automated PA did it's job in that it provided gate details and got the pax to the right gate. Automated or not the general airport announcements (i.e not gate) have never been that narratative. What I have noticed generally at airports though is that 'final calls' come quite quickly these days but I guess this is to get people to the gate ontime. Pax often complain these days about being hearded like cattle......my view is that many need to be hearded to keep the show on the road. Thats my view as crew anyway. lol.
I'm a supporter of MAN. T1 isn't perfect by any stretch but the experience in the departure lounge in what is a fairly old building is nothing short of excellent. The gate areas need some TLC. There isn't any excuse for the state of some of the airbridge carpets on C pier. Overall though I don't think T1 is that bad a experience at all and awards wise and anecdotally atleast, many passengers seem to agree.
Middle of a Winter weekday is usually very quiet for T1 and MAN as a whole. Plus with a rather large departure lounge, airline lounges and gate areas a few hundred people can easily disperse.
MAN T1 was rather unique or atleast a rarity in that rampside views could be obtained landside. That has now changed which is a shame I guess. However, going through security after check in is the norm for a hell of a lot of airports these days. I personally don't see the issue. Meanwhile the security search area does seem to be pretty efficient on the face of it.
Duty Free wise, you do get quite a few 'enthusiasts' on this and similar forums whinging about having to walk through duty free. Again I really don't see the issue. It's pleasant and does it really matter whether you have perfumme and cosmetics or a corridor walls at either side of you as you walk through to the lounge? For those who don't know, it is pretty wide pathway that happens to go through duty/tax free. We often forget that MAN has a very high propensity of leisure travellers for whom duty free and airport retail forms part of their airport experience. Certainly my partner and many of my friends arrive in good time so they can browse and buy. On the actual departure lounge in T1, I think it's a pretty good experience.
B pier at T1 isn't the best. It's old and it's been adapted to death, particularly with regards to passenger segregation which is why you go up and down. From the outside looking at the West side of the pier it looks awful. On the main floor of the pier it's not that bad an experience, it's bright, doesn't look 'too' outdated though more seating is required as you say. Downstairs isn't great at all. Ideally it could do with a rebuild but nothing on the cards as yet.
Automated announcements. I think they sound quite nice. They seem to do the job. In your instance I think an announcement or two by the gate team (which may have been made) could have made it clear that boarding will be commencing shortly. The automated PA did it's job in that it provided gate details and got the pax to the right gate. Automated or not the general airport announcements (i.e not gate) have never been that narratative. What I have noticed generally at airports though is that 'final calls' come quite quickly these days but I guess this is to get people to the gate ontime. Pax often complain these days about being hearded like cattle......my view is that many need to be hearded to keep the show on the road. Thats my view as crew anyway. lol.
I'm a supporter of MAN. T1 isn't perfect by any stretch but the experience in the departure lounge in what is a fairly old building is nothing short of excellent. The gate areas need some TLC. There isn't any excuse for the state of some of the airbridge carpets on C pier. Overall though I don't think T1 is that bad a experience at all and awards wise and anecdotally atleast, many passengers seem to agree.
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B pier at T1 isn't the best. It's old and it's been adapted to death, particularly with regards to passenger segregation which is why you go up and down. From the outside looking at the West side of the pier it looks awful. On the main floor of the pier it's not that bad an experience, it's bright, doesn't look 'too' outdated though more seating is required as you say. Downstairs isn't great at all. Ideally it could do with a rebuild but nothing on the cards as yet.
I flew from Terminal 2 on Friday and that wasn't the best. Prefer Terminal 1 to be honest. Security goes round in a circle for some reason and the long stay car park is miles away from the terminal! When we used T1 we could walk it but with the T2 ar park you have no choice but to take the bus which is only every 15 mins. Next time we use T2 we might even park in the T1 & 3 long stay car park and just walk to T2.
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dublinamg:
Also I only found out later that they have a smoking area in the departures area but I didn't see any signs for it in the terminal. That's a great facility to have for those of us that smoke but I didn't even know they had one.
Also I only found out later that they have a smoking area in the departures area but I didn't see any signs for it in the terminal. That's a great facility to have for those of us that smoke but I didn't even know they had one.
After having finished the perfume maze and can see Starbucks, you will find some stairs to the right that lead up to the food terrace. Having reached the upper level you need to look for the toilets (slightly to the right) and then you'll also see the sign for the smoking area. Just follow the signs through the corridors, though fire doors and eventually you'll end up at the door to the fenced in smokers balcony.
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I flew from Terminal 2 on Friday and that wasn't the best. Prefer Terminal 1 to be honest. Security goes round in a circle for some reason and the long stay car park is miles away from the terminal! When we used T1 we could walk it but with the T2 ar park you have no choice but to take the bus which is only every 15 mins. Next time we use T2 we might even park in the T1 & 3 long stay car park and just walk to T2.
Just think of all the poor staff that have to travel from the car park next to T2 long stay to work every day
I did the T1 perfume maze the other week. Most unusually for me, I was tempted to buy something. However, at 6am there was only one check out open & a huge queue.
I declined the wait, put the stuff back and went to the gate.
It made me laugh at the huge shopping mall but with hardly any open facilities to actually buy something !!
I declined the wait, put the stuff back and went to the gate.
It made me laugh at the huge shopping mall but with hardly any open facilities to actually buy something !!
Jet 2
My friend had booked on the new Jet2 route from MAN to IST. He's just received an e-mail saying that route has been cancelled ( for operational reasons)
He's now rebooked with Turkish at a lower fare than Jet 2.
My advice : never ever book with a lo co (EZY, RYR, LS, ZB) without checking the big boys ( LH LX SN BA TK etc) first.
In my own experience a low cost airline is rarely a lowest fare airline.
He's now rebooked with Turkish at a lower fare than Jet 2.
My advice : never ever book with a lo co (EZY, RYR, LS, ZB) without checking the big boys ( LH LX SN BA TK etc) first.
In my own experience a low cost airline is rarely a lowest fare airline.
Last edited by Mr A Tis; 16th Feb 2012 at 12:33.
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In Dubai currently, flew out on the 12th on UAE22. Check-in was fine, secruity screening was busy and saw about 10 lanes open but as we got in the queue they told us to jump to a lane just opened and got through in seconds! Boarding stand 12, we were in the queue all the way back to about abeam 8 I think then slowly moved forward. Flight must of been 99% full because I didn't see any empty seats near me. Dubai is amazing but I wouldn't like living here. Back on Sunday!
No more IRIS?
Looks like Manchester has lost its IRIS machines now. Will that cause a lot of problems?
BBC News - Eye scanners at England airports turned off
BBC News - Eye scanners at England airports turned off