MANCHESTER - 9

[750XL]

Freight. There are some metroliners, fedex and im sure there is a late night/early am lufthansa cargo.

The metroliner animal testing flights are on an ad-hoc basis rather than scheduled though I think?

I'd imagine if there is a scheduled movement fuelling cover will be provided, but with no scheduled movements, they'll be nobody.

[LAX_LHR]

As long as the scheduled flights are catered for, that sounds much better than nothing at all.


I'm not fussed about divert cover, frankly, there is not much traffic over Manchester between 2300-0500 that would require MAN, so, the chances of diverts are slim anyway.


Like I say, my main concern was the 'scheduled' movements, as, I'm sure one of the LH8165 flights departs at 0450, the FedEx ATR departs between those hours too, and some the metroliners now try to use MAN in the dead of night whenever they can due to the nature of the flights.

[Jet 4.54609]

A little knowledge

I am sure the reason that there is no fuel cover between 0500-2300 is the fact that their are no customers requesting fuel services during these times. I am sure that you would not pay your money for a service that you did not utilise and the same is true for the airlines.

[Shed-on-a-Pole]

Eindhoven Loads and Top Travel Tips

Bagso / Manfod - Whilst awaiting our departure call near gate 52 I overheard the MAN-EIN POB given as 160. This included 6 crew and 5 babies. I would estimate the load factor on the homeward EIN-MAN leg at around 70-75%. In both cases Dutch speakers seemed to outnumber Brits. Perhaps the route has higher awareness in Holland. I noted afew Dutch Man United fans on the MAN-EIN sector following the Man Utd v Chelsea match the previous day. Several 'van Persie' replica shirts were in evidence; there is also the Dutch link at managerial level now.

On Manfod's second question regarding stand availability, I never had a vantage point which offered a comprehensive overview of stand utilisation. At the terminal gate the large airbridge structures either side obstruct lateral views. And once aboard the aircraft I was seated on the starboard side which offered great views of landing traffic on 23R but not of Terminal 3 itself. The terminal was buzzing, however, with security working flat out to manage the queues.

Aboard both Ryanair sectors I was fortunate to get 3 seats to myself. As seats are now allocated in advance I can no longer blame my natural charm, good looks and wild stare for this. I couldn't even blame those fine aftershaves / colognes available from the not-duty-free trolley. I find that the most effective ones are 'Eau de Sweaty Footballer' from Laboratoire Gargoyle in Salford and 'Essence de Flatulent Boyband' by Maison Simone de Ceauelle. You can buy a 5ml bottle of each and still get change from 100 Euro. Always apply copiously for best results. But keep the zit cream handy for later on. Works for me. Happy travels!

Cheers, SHED.

[AldiAl]

New Services

The 11th of this month sees the slot conference, which I think is in Prague
this time.


No doubt a few snippets will be leaking out afterwards, so let's hope we
have some nice surprises.


Fingers crossed.

[sarah19981]

New services

Do we think we will see anything come out from hainan or not?
Hopefully we should see some new service down here

[west lakes]

I got back to MAN today and the walk from the jet to security was not good.

Now you see I always thought (found) that you go through security on departure to check you are not carrying prohibited items onto a flight.

On arrival I've always found that you go through immigration & customs both arms of the UK government and outside the control of the airports!

So which was it?

[mad_jock]

well you would think so but in these days of mixing inbound and outbound pax depending where the pax have come from they rescreen before entry into the terminal inbound and out bound.

[LAX_LHR]

Now confirmed on AA.com, AA will run a B763 on the JFK run from 28th March.


Makes up for the lost CLT capacity, and means AA runs a fully widebody only service next summer (as it seems the B757 is an issue for some).


Great news.

[Ernest Lanc's]

On arrival I've always found that you go through immigration & customs
both arms of the UK government and outside the control of the airports!


So which was it?

West Lakes,

It was as usual a nightmare arriving in MAN with Jet2.

Parked a long walk from security and the wait to clear security (incoming) at MAN was above the 25 minutes estimated.

Flying out was fine, arriving was bad. Worse when I went to Lanzarote from MAN, when the wait at baggage reclaim was over 2 hours.

This time getting through security was that long, the bags was waiting for us,

Have only used Liverpool once and it took 50 mins to clear security despite the
airport being very quiet.

I am talking on arrival at MAN TSR2 - never had any problem at Liverpool.

[All names taken]

Ernest

I think I'd quit now if I were you.
You've been rumbled by West Lakes and it's seems clear that you have an agenda.

There is no security on arriving at MAN or LPL (or the former BLK).

I suspect you are referring to Border Control.
If so, this is not within the gift of the authorities at Manchester Airport to fix, as it is a (ahem) service provided by the Border Force, as they now call themselves.
If you have issues with mobility, as I suspect you may have, try getting extra assistance on arrival at MAN. I know someone who did this recently after a car crash on holiday....excellent service and straight to the front of the queue

[MANFOD]

Good News indeed LAX. It will be nice to have a wide body on the New York route by one of the US carriers. I don't suppose DL or UA will follow suit but you never know.

Out of interest, is MAN-ORD back to a B767 again next summer?

[LAX_LHR]

ORD is confirmed as B767 along with JFK.


PHL continues on A332.


I wouldn't put it past UA to put a B767 (300 or 400) on the MAN-EWR flight, but, DL is only jut re-starting on JFK, so the B757 will likely suit them well.

[comet 4b623PW]

I would have preferred to see a second Boeing 757 service say three times a week with a later arrival time into Ringway which would have given more flexibility to business class passenger's. Frequency needs to be built up on the New York route, rather than just up gauging the aircraft.

[pwalhx]

I think you will find Ernest that you are required to remove glasses for a passport photo anyway, although I stand to be corrected.

As has been said before you do indeed seem to have an agenda about Manchester. However having been to over 200 airports in my time I have to say there are very few that do not require walking, I do not think Manchester is any worse than most.

As has also been pointed out the 'Border Force' is nothing to do with the airport it is an agency of the UK Government, if there were delays it is their staffing issue not the airports.

If you do indeed have a mobility problem it is no issue to arrange assistance.

[LAX_LHR]

Frequency needs to be built up on the New York route, rather than just up gauging the aircraft

MAN-NYC is now back up to 4 times a day on some days, which is as good as it has been for years.


MAN now has
1 B757 per day to JFK
1 B767 per day to JFK
1 B757 per day to Newark
1 A330 3 times per week to JFK.


There is also a 3 weekly 1 way B777 per week with PIA too if it takes your fancy?


Its also been a while since we had scheduled widebodies to JFK, and now there are 2 different flights to choose from on there.


Aside from an upgrade from United, I suspect this is as good as it gets for the foreseeable.

[Ernest Lanc's]

pwalhx

I think you will find Ernest that you are required to remove glasses for a
passport photo anyway, although I stand to be corrected.

You need to remove glasses when having your passport photo taken. That is because frames can hide part of an eye and glare from the flash.

This year was the first time I have ever been asked to remove my glasses when going through 'Border Force' on arrival.

As has been said before you do indeed seem to have an agenda about
Manchester. However having been to over 200 airports in my time I have to say
there are very few that do not require walking, I do not think Manchester is any
worse than most.

I agree - I have never had a complaint about MAN departing, it's on arrivals I have had problems. First a long walk at 1am to security and baggage reclaim - them with a taxi waiting over two hours to get my baggage. 2 years ago or thereabouts.

This time a long walk to security (Border Force) and a long queue with a notice to expect a delay of 25 minutes and that was optimistic.

As has also been pointed out the 'Border Force' is nothing to do with the
airport it is an agency of the UK Government, if there were delays it is their
staffing issue not the airports.

Exactly - My sole point being this could not happen at Blackpool or even Liverpool, not the same volume of PAX.

I don't have an issue with MAN as such, it surely can't be disputed that BLK was easier to use.

[TSR2]

I think you will find Ernest that you are required to remove glasses for a passport photo anyway, although I stand to be corrected.

Not true. Glasses may be worn but frames must not obscure eyes.

[pwalhx]

Taken from Passport Office guidance to photographers

Customers who wear glasses should remove them to ensure that an accurate biometric can be obtained. Glasses can often show reflection or glare from flash, and the frames can obscure facial features. While this may mean that their passport photo does not show them as they usually appear, their photo will still be a good likeness.

Customers with a visual impairment should also follow this guidance. Dark, tinted or mirrored glasses must be removed - otherwise a biometric cannot be captured.

https://www.gov.uk/government/public...-photographers

[Suzeman]

Now, my point here is not to bash MAG, Shell or Ryanair. I'm not interested in apportioning blame for events on the day. The Shell tanker itself no doubt had to honour other commitments prior to refuelling EI-FEH. In the minutes before this Ryanair flight departed, there were four ad-hoc executive departures (1 x G5, 1 x GLEX, 1 x C56X, 1 x P180); no doubt some of these required the attentions of the lone tanker also. That means a queue.

But the real point is this. That Ryanair flight pushed back 79 minutes late purely because it used stand 57. A clear demonstration, if it was needed, that 56, 57 & 58 are wholly inadequate for servicing active passenger flights even of the no-frills variety. Investment in or replacement of these three stands (as part of a larger redevelopment programme) is urgently required.

Shed

Regarding your post about your RYR flight to EIN, you say that you had a re-fueling delay because your flight required the Shell tanker to come along as 57 has no hydrant re-fueling. However if you had been on a hydrant re-fueled stand, do you know that you would have been refueled on time? I have no knowledge of the actual situation, but it is possible that a staff shortage at Shell meant that there would have been delays for all their flights whether they required a bowser or a hydrant dispenser.

Does anyone know whether this was the case on the day in question? And have Shell only got one bowser?

If the Airport had a Collaborative Decision Making system in operation, some of these issues could have been highlighted at an earlier stage as Shell would have been able to predict their resource requirements a few hours ahead based on the real time air traffic schedule. In this case they may have been able to re-allocate resources to minimise or eliminate the delay.

I find that the most effective ones are 'Eau de Sweaty Footballer' from Laboratoire Gargoyle in Salford and 'Essence de Flatulent Boyband' by Maison Simone de Ceauelle.

Prefer the second myself; seems to work a treat on all forms of public transport