Manchester Aviation Viewing Park
Now before this review starts I would like to point out that I am not a plane spotter and no very little about planes although I do enjoy flying and living about 30minutes away from Manchester Airport and never having been to the viewing park I thought that ... Read review
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Advantages: Unusual day out Disadvantages: Limited availability
Manchester Aviation Viewing Park
Now before this review starts I would like to point out that I am not a plane spotter and no very little about planes although I do enjoy flying and living about 30minutes away from Manchester Airport and never having been to the viewing park I thought that it would be a nice afternoon out with the big advantage of Manchester having (at that that time) the only Concorde on display in the UK (if not ... ...work?
Check out the Manchester Airport website for dates that Concorde is open as well as booking information but basically the Concorde tour appears to be operated by a voluntary origination and a such it is only open on very select weekends through the year (these tend to be mainly bank holidays etc. such as Easter). Check the Manchester Airport website for the link to avriable dates as well as booking. The basic cost when I visited was ... more
Manchester Aviation Viewing Park
Now before this review starts I would like to point out that I am not a plane spotter and no very little about planes although I do enjoy flying and living about 30minutes away from Manchester Airport and never having been to the viewing park I thought that it would be a nice afternoon out with the big advantage of Manchester having (at that that time) the only Concorde on display in the UK (if not the world!)
What's there?
There are two main parts to the Aviation Park, which are the Aviation Park, which is open every day (with the exception of Christmas etc.). The aviation park is split into three main areas. There is a large car park where you can basically park your car and explore on foot. There is a smaller car park at the front with many less spaces. Here you can park and actually watch the planes as they take off and land (I visited at 2pm in the afternoon and spaces here are very few an far between as this is where many of the serious plane enthusiast come and park!)
In addition you can walk on foot and visit the wooden built platforms that act as the viewing areas. These also contain binoculars, which there is a small fee for (payable there).
Concorde:
The main reason that I was interested in visiting the aviation park was to visit Concorde always wishing that I had flown on it when it was in service and now very much regretting not having done it! The very first thing to note when visiting Concorde is that yes it is part of the aviation park and yes you do have to pay to get into the aviation park to see Concorde (see below) BUT you also have to pay to get onto Concorde and you can only visit on select days throughout the year and you do have to pre-book!! (When I visited there were LOTS of disappointed people as they could not get too see inside Concorde).
How does it work? Check out the Manchester Airport website for dates that Concorde is open as well as booking information but basically the Concorde tour appears to be operated by a voluntary origination and a such it is only open on very select weekends through the year (these tend to be mainly bank holidays etc. such as Easter). Check the Manchester Airport website for the link to avriable dates as well as booking. The basic cost when I visited was £10 per person and there is a number to call to book via the website. It is quite hard to get hold of the gentleman who takes bookings but if you leave a message he does get back to! He then reserves the date and time of your visit, you send a cheque and then he sends out confirmation including souvenir tickets, guide leaflet and directions. All very simple!
The tour? The tour itself starts with a historical video about Concorde which takes 20 minutes or so. Each tour is assigned a guide and there were no more than 10 people in out group meaning that there was plenty of opportunities to ask questions and find out more about Concorde. After the video and a few initial questions you are guided to the outside of Concorde where you spent another twenty minutes or so walking around the undercarriage finding out about the engines and building of Concorde and other strange facts such as how small the cargo hold is!
You then enter the plane and the guide explains the inside of the cabin to you including which was the favourite seat of the Queens (think it was 1A) as well as pointing out where other famous celebrities and dignitaries have sat on the plane (I ended up sitting in the same seat as Bill Clinton…)
You can have a small walk around the cabin which is quite small and more fashioned than you would imagine (much less luxurious as well but I guess that you certainly get speed over luxury) before you are allowed a few minutes on the flight deck with another guide who highlights some of the literally thousand so of buttons on the deck.
Once you have seen the flight deck you leave the plane and are free to look around further outside the plane.
I very much enjoyed the tour which lasted approximately one hour. All of the guides were very knowledgeable and offered a fascinating insight into the working life of Concorde and focussed very much on interesting rather than technological facts. Definitely worth a visit and good value for money!
**Strange fact**
You can now get married on Concorde (think this costs more than £10 but a few weddings have now taken place so ask your guide for more information!!
What else is there to do?
Not that much really as the main attraction these days does appear to be the Concorde plane. There is a Monarch 'half plan' (i.e. the front end of the plane) which I think is possibly some sort of training facility although this wasn't open to the public when I visited the viewing park. When I visited in 2004 there was also one small fighter type plane although I am not sure exactly what sort of plane this was!
I think that when you visit you will basically be able to see one or two planes other than Concorde although you can only view these planes from the outside and will not be able to board them.
Refreshments, amenities and shopping!?
Refreshments: When we visited there was one small burger bar that served hot and cold drinks and basic snack food. This refreshment stand does kind of have a captive audience but the food looked okay and did seem to be reasonably priced. There was also an ice cream stand although I am assuming that this is more of a weather dependent feature!
Toilets: There are ample toilet facilities that are well kept and clean. There are facilities for people with disabilities.
Shopping: There is a well sized port cabin shop that offers a wide range of aviation related merchandise including current books and magazines. There are lots of cheaper items for kids including a very wide selection of model planes. There also lots of souvenir items such as postcards and when I visited LOTS of Concorde related merchandise including pens and stationary, cups. A well stocked shop with friendly and knowledgeable staff and I am sure that anyone will find a bit of something they wish to buy (but then again that's kind of the idea I am sure!!)
Parking?
As well as visiting Concorde you can just visit the Aviation park which will you pay per car to get it. The basic cost is £3 per car which includes the driver and then £1 per additional passenger. I think that mini vans etc. are priced around £10 plus.Who's it for and accessibility?
I would say that the aviation park would definitely appeal to anyone who any interest in planes but even if you are not a big fan of planes it is absolutely fascinating to watch the speed at which tiny planes and bib Boeing 747 whiz in and out of Manchester Airport and if you visit at peak time I think that there is a plane every two minutes or so!
You definitely need to try and visit here when the weather is nice and there are not many places to shelter or hide if it was bounding down with rain! If it's sunny there are also some grassed areas that the kids can run some steam off on! Beware though that there are always lots of cars in the car park so keep kids close by if near moving traffic!
As far as I am aware the majority of the viewing park would be accessible to people in wheelchairs. There are disabled toilets. However, I do not think that people in wheelchairs would be able to gain access to Concorde.
Anything else around there?
If you are travelling a long way to visit the aviation park then Manchester Airport with its three terminals including shops and restaurants may be worth a visit. I would highly recommend the walk from between terminals one and two along the mile long glass covered walkway. A great chance to stretch your legs and kids love the moving pavements. There's even a Marks and Spencer and a railway station in between! Short stay car parking is available at all of the 3 terminals. You are also not to far away from:
John Lewis Cheadle
Wilmslow
Manchester City Centre
Old Trafford and Manchester City football stadiums
Getting there?
I would recommends logging into the Manchester Airport website for directions or using an online map such as multimap to gain directions to the airport. Once you are 1 mile or so from the airport then you can just follow the brown signs to the viewing park. The main airport is the M56 (not sure of the junction number!) and it only takes five minutes or so once you leave the motorway to arrive at the viewing park.
I am not too sure about public transport as I don't think that there are buses here but there is a railway station in between terminals 1 and 2 at the airport with trains that run from Manchester City Centre and you could then always take a taxi if not driving.
Advantages: Seeing concorde, getting so close to planes Disadvantages: British weather, pricing system a bit crappy
...running :-( I totally recommend Manchester Airport Aviation Viewing Park to anyone with even a slight interest in aircraft. It's fascinating!
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*Setting/surroundings*
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-The MA Aviation Park is situated right next to the runway at Manchester Airport. This enables visitors to view both take-offs and landings.
-The park is very clean, virtually no litter and is a grassy area with benches and large, ... ...a 10 min drive from Manchester Airport and you get to see a lot more than in the Airport itself. There's plenty to do and I strongly recommend this visit to anyone who likes planes. I'm not a huge aircraft fan but the chance to see Concorde right infront of me what an opportunity too good to miss. Have an enjoyable day out :-) ...
leadboiler 11.04.2004
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Manchester Airport Aviation Viewing Park
Advantages: Lots of planes, great for the aviation enthusiast Disadvantages: Can get a bit competitive?!?!
The Manchester Airport Aviation Viewing Park is ideal for Plane enthusiasts of all kinds, in my case as I work in Travel specifically the Aviation field my interest is seeing the various Airlines operated from Manchester and for my partner as he builds Aircraft he is interested in the actual aircraft taking of from Manchester so overall it is ideal for all people that enjoy a trip to the Airport.
I must warn you though that if you do decide to comment ... ...pre-warned before I left so didn't dare to say anything but found the atmosphere was relaxed and the people were friendly enough so please don't let me put you off.
Ideal if you want something cheap to pass the time and would like to learn a bit about Manchester Airport. ...
KELLYLOUJ 18.11.2005
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Manchester Airport Aviation Viewing Park
Advantages: Great views of the aircraft coming and going at Manchester Disadvantages: Not enough seats
...drive up the road to Manchester Airport and visit the Aviation Viewing Park (AVP).
Now before I continue it should be noted that I am an aviation enthusiast/plane geek (delete which ever you think is more applicable) and as such, really enjoy watching planes come and go. I have been to many airports across the country on my travels and it is often extremely hard to see what's going on. Many airports have closed there public viewing terraces in the ... ...areas. Regardless, the AVP at Manchester was a breath of ray of sunshine.
I arrived at the AVP at around 13:00 and had 5hrs to kill before returning to pick up the girlfriend. Despite having read good reviews of the AVP, I was more than worried that views would still be limited and I would soon find myself bored. No chance of that happening! The AVP is situated within 50m of one of the taxiways and almost every arriving aircraft in the time I was ...
StereoMike1983 08.08.2006
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Manchester Airport Aviation Viewing Park
Advantages: Concorde tour, Aviation Gift shop, Raised viewing platforms, close to runway Disadvantages: Mostly small planes after having the 2.00pm tour
We arrived at Manchester Airport at noon on Sunday. Concorde tours are only available at week-ends. We needed transport to go to the Manchester Aviation Viewing Park and BusyBus goes there so we looked around for the bus stop which is outside the airport marked with two sign boards. One said BusyBus services are daily and the other said Monday to Fridays only. There were two numbers given, one for you to ask them to come collect you and the other ... ...ask for collection but an answermachine picked up so we left a message. Then after 20 minutes of waiting we called the information number and they said they don't operate bus services on week-ends. On their posters they advertise BusyBus and Concorde and Concorde tours are only available at week-ends but they don't operate then! They told us that Swans buses go there every hour but instead of taking it we decided to take a taxi. It cost us £9! When ...
moneymagic26 27.07.2009
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Manchester Airport Aviation Viewing Park
Advantages: very hospitable Disadvantages: very expensive
Manchester Airport has got to be the most expensive place on earth. Talk about taking advantage. Everything is a rip off there. The thing is though, what they lose in reasonability they gain in performance. They have got comfortable seats, smoking areas and very clear screens telling you about the incoming and departing flights. There are a wide range of shops and services including W. H. Smiths, Virgin, Boots and many cafes, restaurants and toilets. ... ...the arrival and departure lounge there is a more than ample supply of trolleys for your luggage and plenty of seating. Manchester Airport overall is everything that you could expect from an airport all crammed into three terminals, two runways, three hotels and a heck of a lot of aeroplanes. ...
somebodyrandom 02.07.2001 (10.07.2001)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: somewhat helpful Review of Manchester Airport Aviation Viewing Park
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