SteelCityBoy

Apologies in advance for the ranty nature of this thread...

Just returned from a weekend trip to ZRH and STR on LX. Every time passing through MAN T1 gets ever so slightly more depressing and the place seems to be bursting at the seams. "Highlights" included:

1) On the outbound- Aspire Lounge refusing access to further pax due to "capacity issues" (although it did not seem that full...).

2) Inbound - passage through arrivals was embarrassing after having just arrived from ZRH - corridors with scuffed and peeling paint; floor patched up in places with duct tape, dirty windows. Just embarrassing introduction to our foreign visitors to the UK and the Northwest.

3) 20 minutes to clear EU passport control. E Gates a waste of time. Back of queue not policed properly and pax with non-biometric docs and children queuing needlessly delaying the whole thing.

4) Painfully slow baggage delivery. Inbound ex.ZRH landed 1240 - screen at carousel said all baggage delivered by 1310 - yet at 1320 no bags had come out and the carousel had not even been switched on! I exited at 1330 and the majority of the flight was still at the carousel. This is not acceptable in my view. I raised it with the airport Information Desk and the woman whilst sympathetic said "it's not my Department" - obviously the case but I would have hoped that feedback relating to the airport would have been at least taken on board with a "we'll pass it on" or similar... I mean just humour me for pity's sake and say you'll pass it on... The "it's not my problem" attitude in anyone in a Customer facing role is very frustrating!

Again, apologies for the rant but I am finding MAN more and more of a bind. The airport management seems to not be bothered about providing a pax-friendly 21st century airport experience. I am not sure what they are bothered about but MAN seems to be coping less and less well. Am I being unfair?

Up In The Air

Not at all! (I thought it was just me!)

ydnpa

Returned the other Saturday evening with LH from FRA & was also underwhelmed. Departed the previous Saturday on the lunchtime flight. The security was very officious, asking for all electrical devices including camera, we were then to be quite honest ridiculed because we only had a small compact camera. But they never mentioned phones!! the Aspire lounge at that time had just finished serving the bacon butties, we were there for an hour but apart from packets of crisps no other offerings appeared, at that time the lounge was ok in terms of capacity.

On return Border Control probably took about 15 mins, E Gates closed at 11:20pm. Baggage was due by 11:40 & probably started at about that time. Needless to say our Priority tagged bags were last on the belt, but it took 25 mins for all bags to be delivered, not helped by the numerous blockages. To cap it all due to a massive thunderstorm as we transferred in FRA both bags were soaked as were the contents!!

We will do it all again in a few months when we fly with EK again in C so at least we can use the EK lounge but I hate to think how long it takes MAN to deliver the bags from the 380.

IAN-UK

On the way out it's .. well, just an airport. Just as annoying in small ways as any other.

It falls apart (T1, at least) when it comes to arrivals: shabby and badly organised. An embarrassment.

SteelCityBoy

Thank you all for your input... glad it's not just me.

Think I will e-mail Manchester Airport CS a link to this thread by way of feedback. They'll probably ignore but think I will anyway...

DYKWIA

The baggage delivery issues are very much a ground handler issue, rather than the airport.

I'm not sure who EK use, but they are pretty good, and the baggage is delivered quite quickly.

Other (low cost) airlines use different handlers, and they struggle. That's why they are low cost

ydnpa

Thanks for the reassurance about EK, totally agree baggage handling is by a different operator. We were flying LH who use Swissport I know Swissport have a reputation at LGW.

SteelCityBoy

Agree baggage handling is the responsibility of the handling agent, but it is an element that affects the experience of using the airport so one would hope the airport would take an interest in ensuring that reasonable standards are maintained. Hence my frustration when I raised the issue with the Customer Service desk to be told "that's not my Department".

IAN-UK

Baggage delivery is very much an airport issue: while it's very true that the airport does not supply the service directly, it sets service standards and provides the infrastructure.

On the few times I've travelled with hold baggage on Lufthansa the delay to the arrival of my stuff on the carousels has been beyond even the limits set by the ghastly old LHR T2.



AND ANOTHER THING!

How is it that there's always at least one of the inter-terminal moving walkways out of commission and, well, not moving?

SteelCityBoy

Save on the electricity?!

I have e-mailed MAN Customer Services with a link to this thread as feedback and offering to provide any follow up if they wish.

I have not had a reply.

ppp909

Manchester's a terrible airport. I only ever use T3 (BA from Heathrow) and you have to go through T1 to get there, via a complicated and badly marked set of corridors, overcrowded lifts and outside walkways. I have worked out a route which avoids the lifts but it's marked at all.
Security is always overcrowded. There aren't enough seats for all of the passengers in the terminal. It's all a bit old and grotty.
Everything about it screams crappy provincial airport, which is not really what they're trying to go for. The train link into Piccadilly's good though, once you've managed to get to the station. I only ever do it with a carry-on bag. Don't think I'd fancy it with family plus luggage.

mfkne

Speaking of security at T3: I was there a few weeks ago and for the first time I noticed the person manning the fast lane entrance taking photographs of passengers wishing to enter. When I got there she wanted to take a picture of me but then she realized I was travelling within the EU and said it wasn't necessary. What gives?

IAN-UK

I'd forgotten this feature of the airport. I've travelled between the station and T3 dozens of times...

.. but I always make a mess identifying a lift-free transit between the "skywalk" from the station, and the outside canopy-covered walkway leading to T3.

stut

This is for domestic/CTA passengers. As there's no ID requirement for domestic travel, a (temporary) digital photo is taken to ensure that any passenger boarding a domestic flight has either originated from landside, or been through immigration. Thus then allows domestic and international passengers to mix airside without the risk of international-to-international connecting passengers doing a domestic BP switcheroo and entering the country without passing through immigration.

mfkne

But isn't the area in T3 that you come from as you enter security inherently public, i.e. it should be assumed that whoever managed to get there got there legally, much like within Schengen (as long as you're in a member country of the Schengen agreement, it is assumed that some other member has verified your eligibility for being there)?