Trafford Shopping Centre Phase 2? I use Manchester Term 2 several times a year, overpriced food and shopping outlets. Miles to walk to gates - Can we just have a traveler friendly airport please.

Good god - one Trafford Centre is more than enough...

Good god - one Trafford Centre is more than enough...




I agree but going a little offtopic here but who buys all this "Junk"? There have been regular articles in the press about the " Rip Off " prices and as our cases are already full to bursting we take it as hand luggage out and pack it in our cases coming back - cur excess baggag charges. Then of course we start all over again when we get to our destination and wander around the markets snapping up all the "bargains" Whilst in Lanzarote we saw some quite good artwork but at 400 euroes I would not dare trust it in my luggage and far too big for hand luggage, and of course we have the duty free before we come home.

You make a valid point. It does appear that whereas previously you would have looked for a 'bargain' at the airport, you can often get things cheaper on the highstreet or on the internet.

The commercialism of airports is interesting , I think having a good choice of eating places is important , it means you have the choice of eating before flying or buying food to eat on board , there are high street brands of useful shops like pharmacy and newsagents , and yes there are some upmarket branded shops who probably don't make a great deal of profit after paying high rents and commission on sales and having a low footfall but they use the chance to market their products and highlight their company , and let's not forget that UK airports are not just for UK citizens to fly out of on holiday and back again , many tourists having visited the UK probably use these shops. The other option is to have less shops etc and then the airport operators income is restricted which would result in higher passenger service charges which are included in the price of your flight ticket , we could all end up paying more to cover the costs of the running of the airport , and as 65% of Manchester airport is owned by the 10 local councils of Greater Manchester I would imagine they recieve a dividend which can provide more services for locals .

Not really a fan of resurrecting old topics but the muchvaunted changes really are terrible. Having just come back from Spain I am
seriously thinking of driving that little bit further to a more traveller
friendly airport. Some time ago they decided to move the drop off/pick up
location for most travellers and the various off airport parking companies have
been moved, No longer are we under cover but relegated down the road with a
hike with baggage and if it is raining then tough. It is not as though they
needed to do so as the terminal 2 drop off is still in use just only available
for the airports own buses. When we arrive there a couple weeks ago having battledstorms and floods we got wet from the drop off point to be greeted by a packed
airport departure hall. In their wisdom only a few desks were manned and everybody
was expected to self-serve check in. What fun, particularly as so many were
late arriving due to the weather conditions. Piles of luggage with lots of kids
ranging from babies upwards. The juggernaut baby carriages when it became
obvious that a lot of people were likely still to be checking in whilst their
planes had left they finally opened ONE desk. Security were struggling as usual (I see that Manchester hasan average time through security of 17 minutes in a new report) OK spending our
money on making the place look fancy (Yes it is our money as they recover the
cost from the airlines who simply put up the price of tickets to pay for it)
but at Malaga on Sunday with massive queues they got us through a lot quicker
than Manchester. And then there is the journey to your gate. They have opened
up the new ones since we were last there is May and I am thinking of applying
for the bus service concession. We were going from A6and as soon as we turned
the corner a big sign states 15 minutes to your gate. Now I have friends who always
book assistance and to be fair my mate George is a little unsteady on his feet
but not everybody claims to be infirm even if we are well past our allocated
three score years and ten but still going. Moving walkways the few that there were
not working, the same applies on your journey back to immigration on your return.
The people who design/plan these things probably never use the instead going on
cruises.Then of course we have the facial recognition passportcontrol – everybody has to go through them – and yes the other year I actually
saw them send a woman in full Islamic dress including a Burqa being sent that
way. They never ever seem to work properly and take twice as long as the old
system – someone who looks at your passport and you and lets you through, when
we use them my wife gets into a mess as once she removes her glasses she cannot
see what it says on the screen.I know that nobody at Manchester Airport is interested in myviews but just in case they are and read this I would re-think the bonus you
were going to pay the person who designed it – they don’t deserve it.

I've only ever travelled from Manchester Airport once & I wouldn't choose to fly from there again. Our local airports are Newcastle or Leeds as they are both similar driving distance for us. Our local airport Durham Tees Valley will, hopefully, one day open up their holiday destinations.

I prefer smaller airports.

We flew back from Malaga yesterday and, although it's a large airport, we were impressed with how quickly we got through security. The queue was long on arrival but we were kept moving and in no time reached the tray area.

Is Liverpool any better for you? I've never been to JL Airport so have no idea of size etc.

Leeds/Bradford is 15 miles nearer to me but takes longer to get to. The other problem is wind and fog qquickly see LB closed and diverts to Manchester.

Malaga is a great airport with the passage through security a lot quicker than Manchester.

Malaga is also cheaper for food and drink, I often think I have bought the airport at Manchester

We prefer Newcastle to Leeds because of the wind at Leeds. We flew in sideways one time