British Airways lounge at Manchester Airport will not re-open – report

According to reports on Flyertalk, from someone with impeccable credentials, British Airways has decided not to reopen its lounge in Manchester Airport Terminal 3.

The Manchester lounge is, effectively, the lounge that time forgot. In all the years that I have used it, there was never any noticeable change.

Like the Newcastle lounge, which has also been permanently closed, the Manchester lounge would have required significant investment to bring it up to modern standards.

There is also the question of which terminal British Airways will be using once the extension to Terminal 2 is open. Terminal 3 is very lacking in terms of, well, everything really. Shops, bars, restaurants …. it doesn’t really have them.

Inside the British Airways Manchester lounge

If you ever visited the lounge, you will remember it.

The lounge was surprisingly large and doughnut shaped.  The centre is taken up by a cupola that provides a natural light both to the lounge and the main departure hall below.

and

and

The bar was not to be sniffed at:

Here is a typical breakfast – no bacon rolls here though:

and

It even had a small business centre which I used quite a bit in the years before I bought a laptop light enough to happily carry around:

It isn’t clear what British Airways will do now. There are plenty of other oneworld airlines using Manchester, and of course Aer Lingus will need a lounge for its new long-haul operation launching from Manchester this Summer. The official launch information on this is due very soon.

There is also Finnair, Iberia, Qatar Airways, Cathay Pacific etc ….. assuming that all of these services return. There was talk of a oneworld lounge in the Terminal 2 extension but this was never confirmed.

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How to get FREE airport lounge access via UK credit cards (April 2024)

Here are the four options to get FREE airport lounge access via a UK credit card.

The Platinum Card from American Express comes with two free Priority Pass cards, one for you and one for a supplementary cardholder. Each card admits two so a family of four gets in free. You get access to all 1,300 lounges in the Priority Pass network – search it here.

You also get access to Eurostar, Lufthansa and Delta Air Lines lounges.  Our American Express Platinum review is here. You can apply here.

If you have a small business, consider American Express Business Platinum instead.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold is FREE for the first year. It comes with a Priority Pass card loaded with four free visits to any Priority Pass lounge – see the list here.

Additional lounge visits are charged at £24.  You get four more free visits for every year you keep the card.  

There is no annual fee for Amex Gold in Year 1 and you get a 20,000 points sign-up bonus.  Full details are in our American Express Preferred Rewards Gold review here.

HSBC Premier World Elite Mastercard gets you get a free Priority Pass card, allowing you access to the Priority Pass network.  Guests are charged at £24 although it may be cheaper to pay £60 for a supplementary credit card for your partner.

The card has a fee of £195 and there are strict financial requirements to become a HSBC Premier customer.  Full details are in my HSBC Premier World Elite Mastercard review.

PS. You can find all of HfP’s UK airport lounge reviews – and we’ve been to most of them – indexed here.