My bruises have bruises. I'm blaming the cheerleading. Review writing is a whole lot less dangerous....
My bruises have bruises. I'm blaming the cheerleading. Review writing is a whole lot less dangerous.
Member since:08.07.2001
Reviews:594
Members who trust:255
When I'm in England, I live up north. Don’t feel too sorry for me as it’s not that bad. I have to state the fact though, so you can understand why I use this airport. As I said, I live a h*ll of a distance from Watford gap and have done for many, many years. Living in Manchester itself now means that Ringway is the obvious choice, but even when I lived at the seaside we still flew from here – something to do with the fact that my holiday / travelling requirements generally extend beyond Jersey and Tenerife – practically the only 2 places served by Blackpool airport. So yes, Manchester it had to be. Come next Tuesday, I will have flown to 11 or 12 countries from here, approximately 20 times in the last 12 years. Not that I travel all the time or anything, but when I do this is usually my starting point.
This year Manchester hosted the Commonwealth Games,
and got rather excited about it months before they began. Tickets were on sale ages before, shops appeared stocking the official merchandise, and volunteer requests made the rounds. At work we were even asked how many languages we could speak just in case there’s a problem with any of the foreign customers who appear – after all, on your first trip to Manchester from some far off land, the first thing you’d do would be to pop into Debenhams, right? Anyway, I digress. On a good day, millions of travellers pass through the airport each year, and these numbers increased dramatically over the summer. Since it’s such a major international airport (second only to Heathrow in the UK) you’d expect it to have some decent facilities, and you wouldn’t be disappointed. Blackpool or Liverpool this aint.
There are 3 terminals – Terminal 3 is for BA and domestic flights, with Terminals 1 and 2 both serving international destination for all other airlines. There are 2 main buildings (one houses 1 and 3, the other 2) connected by a skylink walkway.
Landside we have :
Terminal 1 :
I like this one – it has a wide range of shops (Thorntons, Dorothy Perkins, Virgin Megastore and specialist independent toy and cosmetic shops, as well as the ever-present Boots and WH Smiths). It’s split over two levels with check in, passport control and the shops on the lower one, and the food court on the upper. In the food court you find Harry Ramsdens, the Covent Garden Soup Co, Garfunkels and the Donkeystone pub among other places, although sadly they've got rit of the Pizza Hut stand they used to have.
Terminal 2 :
Fewer shops and fewer places to eat, I generally do not depart from here since this is more for charter than scheduled flights, and even then, only for the smaller companies - JMC and MyTravel both use T1. Not as busy as terminal 1 but as I said, not as much to spend your money on. There is a food area but this is more like a service station than a restaurant.
Terminal 3 :
Tiny! Seriously, it boasts 2 cafes and a Boots and not much more, Luckily, T1 is just around the corner so once you’ve checked in you’re free to explore what they have on offer.
Airside :
All 3 terminals are pretty similar once you’ve passed through passport control – a hand full of cafes and some more shops including duty free jobbies.
Other facilities :
There are numerous Beaureux de Change offices throughout the terminals, along with play areas, photo booths and the like.
Layout etc :
Compared to Malpensa and Schwechert (read the ops if you haven’t already) this place is a dream to find your way around. Signs are clear and accurate, and if you do get muddled staff are helpful and actually know what they’re talking about (except for bl**dy BMI, but let’s not go there).
Arriving back :
Being a pretty big place it can take a while to get from your plane to baggage claim when you return which is probably why your luggage is usually there waiting for you. Passport control on your return is pretty simple so long as you don’t get stuck behind a large group of American tourists who think “EU citizens only” applies to them.
Getting there :
It really couldn’t be easier – just off the motorway, the airport has long and short stay car parks for each terminal. There is a dedicated train link to the airport’s own station, with never fewer than 2 trains an hour from Piccadilly, and busses run frequently connecting each terminal with the surrounding area. Like I said, I don’t live in the south, so I don’t get to chose between Heathrow, Stanstead, City and Luton etc, but that doesn’t bother me. For my flying needs local little Ringway is more than adequate, and should you ever be in the grim north, I would 100% recommend it.
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ooh.. ok, ok, I near enough live in this place so I'm happily fairly qualified to comment. Next time you're in the departure lounge, get a male steward to take you on a tour of the Mens toilets (I'm not sure if the ladies have these) to check out the "Ethnic" cubicle at the last stall. It's a sight to behold, Lovely oodles of Info there too. And if you think the Baggage claim is a long way from the Arrivals gates, you should try finding your way to the Staff room...
Shufflebum 28.09.2002 10:28
Glad you dont find the north too grim! Great op. Rach x
MonkeyMoo 26.09.2002 15:48
hey nowt wrong wi' us from up t'north tee hee - I fly from LBA cos it's nearer - only 1/2 hr drive - Manchester confuses me lol
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Sep 25th, 2002
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