Manchester Airport Wins UK Travel Trade 'Oscar'

I can sort of see that the way there is no defined exit may lead to a moments confusion, i really cant see it lasting more than a few seconds. Ok in an extream circumstance, its your 1st visit to the airport, your not a regular flyer and your 1min away from boarding closing and chasing your ass to make the flight, maybe its not the best help in the world to be confronted with a scaled down Trafford Centre with no exit signs. Nearly every airport in the world has its own little quirks, and as flying public we will just have to expect that most alterations to the airports we use, will be to aid said airports to encourage us to spend money in there. Lets see what the layout at EDI will be when the renovations are complete. Im guessing more shops and bars and less general seating areas. Its just the way it works unfortuneatley. I dont disagree with your comments, but it does seem a bit harsh on MAN to slate it when its being compared to airports that are for the most part doing/or looking to do the same thing.

Do you mean you hate the whole terminal layout, or just the duty free area? Surely if you use T1 alot you know the quick way through the shopping area.
Also why would the airlines be bothered as to the layout of a terminal building at somewhere the size of T1 at MAN?

I not a Manchester fanboy by any means, but I think the place is alot better now. As for confusing airport terminals its hardly in the same league as somewhere like Frankfurt.

Primarily I hate the Duty Free area admittedly, and the frequency with which I use it seemed to bear no relationship to my ability to get lost among the mirrad of path blocking shelves and awkwardly placed mirrors that started life in there. There honestly was no clear path through originally and because you sort of curve round in there it wasn’t clear for direct lines to the gates. As I stress, they ahve now eased the situation a little, but clear yellow arrows should still be placed on the floor IM(H:dev2:)O

Airlines are bothered by these things because of the ease of use for their passengers, and also because of the ease of use with respect to terminal transit times, particularly for LCC’s whose whole day is dependent upon trying to turn aircraft round ASAP and getting away on time. A five minute hold up on each early sector can soon lead to an ATC delay later in the day and then on-going delays which cannot be made up. With this in mind, the current duty free shop has two problems. The first is that if a passenger is rushing to a gate generally it takes time to negotiate the duty free shop rather than there being a quick and clear line from security to the gates. The second point is that if passengers get distracted in the shop rather than making their way to the gates then they may end up holding up flights, and the whole point of the layout is to distract passengers and to get them to browse the shop since they cannot find a clear path through. In the first point above, in relation to ease of use, if you are Etihad or Emirates and you want your passengers to have the best experience, that starts ont he ground, and if they get frustrated/annoyed at the Airport used by the airline then they tend to take it out on the airline when making booking decisions in the future.

I have to confess, I’ve not flown through FRA, so cannot compare it to that specific airport.

was at T3 last year, and while the times to get through security have declined with new set up, it is a crazy situation that people have to work their way back against the flow of people with cases heading to the check in desks through the narrow area by Costa, Terminal 3 is great once your through security, although i did an early depature 18 months ago (6am) and security opened at 4, but none of the catering outlets opened to 5am, which meant while in the queue at 5:15 for a coffee, i was called for boarding. In the hour from 4-5 lots of the shop staff had gone behind the cafe counter and helped themselves to coffee!!

shame the kights have gone wonder if someone bought them for a town hall?
a college of mine said he was dissappointed about 2 weeks ago, he was stopping in the Raddisson hotel, and rather than eat in the restaurant there, he and his wife walked into terminal 1. only to find no access anymore down to the main lounge (where the lights were) and to the restourants and shops before security, he said it was the same story at T2 also

I understand the constraints, I am involved in airport business and work alongside one of my colleagues on airport design work. As a result I also understand that this is classically poor airport design. I fly regularly through T1 for work, and hate it everytime, as I say, they’ve eased the situation a little, but if I was an airline, I wouldn’t be happy with that arrangement.

Do you mean you hate the whole terminal layout, or just the duty free area? Surely if you use T1 alot you know the quick way through the shopping area.
Also why would the airlines be bothered as to the layout of a terminal building at somewhere the size of T1 at MAN?

I not a Manchester fanboy by any means, but I think the place is alot better now. As for confusing airport terminals its hardly in the same league as somewhere like Frankfurt.

have the bubble glass chaneliers being retained in the main hall

No, VERY sadly they got rid of them 😡 They were an icon of the Airport, and actually given how fashions come round again, I think would have fit in quite well.

have the bubble glass chaneliers being retained in the main hall

Unfortunately for us as customers that duty free store is there to make money. The last thing we will be shown is an easy way out of there. Its become a slightly annoying fact at airports the world over that they are now just shopping malls with aircraft gates attached. The way i see it is if you use the airport alot you know the easy ways through the shops. If you only use it a few times a year for holidays and so on, your probably going to have a schmooze around the place anyway.

I understand the constraints, I am involved in airport business and work alongside one of my colleagues on airport design work. As a result I also understand that this is classically poor airport design. I fly regularly through T1 for work, and hate it everytime, as I say, they’ve eased the situation a little, but if I was an airline, I wouldn’t be happy with that arrangement.

Unfortunately for us as customers that duty free store is there to make money. The last thing we will be shown is an easy way out of there. Its become a slightly annoying fact at airports the world over that they are now just shopping malls with aircraft gates attached. The way i see it is if you use the airport alot you know the easy ways through the shops. If you only use it a few times a year for holidays and so on, your probably going to have a schmooze around the place anyway.

I have to say im quite impressed with T1 at MAN. I thought they would make a hash of it, but no, its all good in my eyes. Well done.

Except for having to walk through a duty free shop with no clear way through, and mirrors all over the place to confuse you. They have seperated some of the display stands a little to make it slightly more obvious which is the way to the gates, but in truth, they need to go further and put clear signs/arrows on the floor to help guide you through rather than tricking you into looking at retail items.

I have to say im quite impressed with T1 at MAN. I thought they would make a hash of it, but no, its all good in my eyes. Well done.

i can remember the days before the manchester viewing park when the airport did have terraces, accessed by turnstiles to the left of the domestic arrivals area (now terminal 3 building)
the best part was been able to walk to the end of the piers which still form part of terminal1, no security in those days, but then nobody thought they could lob bombs at the planes 50 feet away!!!!!!

I’m afraid you are wrong, Steve.

There are now no ‘official’ viewing areas within the Airport itself and the Viewing Park is, in fact, managed by the Bollin Valley Partnership.

Several major airports, in Europe and further afield, do provide dedicated viewing areas for spectators. The Panorama Terrace at Schiphol is a good example.

I may be wrong but i think Manchester is the only airport in the World that provides a dedicated viewing area for aviation enthusiasts

i take it they have finished the latest alterations then!
shame i won’t be using it next Easter, my Thomas cook flight to Turin has been cancelled, and now goota go to Gatwick

Luckily I am informed that even the Airports recognise that to win this award it is not about the things you list, but instead about how good the parties are that you throw for travel agents throughout the year.

I say ‘luckily’ because if Manchester is judged to have the best customer service and business strategy in the UK then we all may aswell pack up now and go back to moving about on Penny-Farthings!

Airports were judged on their facilities, customer service standards, investment, innovation, travel trade relations, business strategy, environmental performance and commitment to their local communities.

(Airwise)