So I was the one unfortunate enough to have planned a B2B for yesterday, which thankfully was successful. I was back at the gate in around 25 mins, roughly 20 minutes before boarding could have closed. However, I wouldn't recommend MAN for B2B's now, as the process was very stressful compared to the ease of other domestic airports, AMS etc.

KARFA has covered the disembarking process well in #1381,Here were my B2B timings for a scheduled arrival of 15:50 (BA1394) and departure at 16:50 (BA1399):

• 15:37 Runway, 15:45 Seatbelts off (Gate 105/A5). The senior cabin crew was great and tried to help by ushering me to the front and making the turnaround manager aware.
• 15:49 Boarded the first of 3 buses 15:54, bus departed, 15:56 bus arrived, 15:57 bus doors opened (rear left doors only - thanks for the previous tip on this thread).
• 16:00 arrived at fast-track Security, via a light jog through the service tunnels, outside, back inside and up the escalators through the check-in area to departures:
  • The LHR printed BA boarding pass wouldn't scan at security. Thankfully I had a backup PDF with QR code. Biometrics captured via a photo taken from a handheld tablet (!)
• 16:02 No queue, so through security in 30 seconds.
• 16:10 Arrived at gate after more light jogging. Hadn't started boarding, due to late arrival of new inbound crew.
  • BA's gates are really VERY far from security. Deceptively so, given the inbound bus only took 2-3 mins drive. If I hadn't jogged, it could easily have taken 15 mins at a brisk walk.
  • From my brief visit, the terminal does look very nice. However, is it a triumph of form over function?

Boarding could have closed at 16:30, so I did have 20 mins margin for error. However, to make this work, the inbound has to arrive on-schedule/early, the busses have to be waiting, you have to be on the first bus, have no queue at security, and be prepared to jog a bit to cover the huge distances.

I did hear from staff that bussing is an interim arrangement and there will be an airside transfer coming. However, if that involves long walks from the BA gates both to and from the central area, along with biometric queues, I think B2B's may be over at Manchester for good.