We take you inside Manchester Airport’s new Terminal 2 extension

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• Sam says:

  26 Aug26 August 05:16

  Is this designed by Fosters+Partners? The letter signage at the check in concourse really resembles HKG in appearance.

• Barnaby100 says:

  26 Aug26 August 05:58

  I hope that it comes with customer service /attitude training for the security staff.

  • Flymatt says:

    26 Aug26 August 08:37

    Agreed! MAN’s greatest downfall – I hope they don’t miss the opportunity to turn things around.

  • L Allen says:

    26 Aug26 August 11:25

    Ditto that! The security team are awful.

• Jimbo says:

  26 Aug26 August 06:34

  Pictures of a pedestrian design of an airport terminal that could be a mall or terminal anywhere and designed by anyone in the last 20 years. Oh and a picture of beer. Boring. Boring. Boring.

• Anna says:

  26 Aug26 August 06:53

  So there is a shiny new terminal but BA is funnelling their premium passengers through the pretty ropey Escape lounge in T1!

  I am at MAN again this morning with my new favourite airline, Ryanair 😂

  • Yorkieflyer says:

    26 Aug26 August 07:28

    Glad you’re a yellow n blue convert, they aren’t the airline that some believe them to be

  • Rhys says:

    26 Aug26 August 07:54

    The terminal is still in a transition phase – not sure of the longterm plans for BA.

• TimM says:

  26 Aug26 August 07:00

  “I hope that it comes with customer service /attitude training for the security staff.” Agreed. If it is the same staff from Cell Block H all the nice new shiny facilities will make little difference. Manchester security always reminds me of the Mony Python sketch where customers pay to be insulted.

  The compulsory duty-free maze is a signature feature of MAG.

  The eventual demolition of Terminal 1 is good news although, much like Auschwitz, I thought it could have been turned into a memorial to its millions of victims over the decades.

  The new T2 has to be an improvement. I note however that BA will be using T1 for the foreseeable future.

  • Rhys says:

    26 Aug26 August 07:55

    Duty free mazes are a signature of pretty much all UK airports these days!

    • Save East Coast Rewards says:

      26 Aug26 August 08:17

      Heathrow T5 doesn’t have that, I don’t think T2 and T4 does either. T3 does, but you can avoid it with Fast Track.

      If definitely not just a UK thing though. In Italy even some motorway service stations try and force you to take an indirect route through the shop to exit the place!

      “I was surprised to see different signange from the ‘yellow for departures, purple for connections’ signage you see at Heathrow as I had always assumed this was a British standard.”

      It was a BAA/HAL standard. I think apart from Heathrow the only others that follow this standard were the ones that were last to be sold off by Heathrow Airport Holdings. It’s a shame because it’s clear and consistent. I don’t know if yellow and black used to be a UK standard many years ago, Newcastle in the 80s used it despite never being BAA but ditched it when they expanded in the 90s.

      “You’ll be pleased to know that the slightly depressed public announcement voice from Heathrow Terminal 5 is being used!”

      I know it as the Schiphol voice as the PA system is created by a Dutch company and that’s the first major airport it appeared. It now appears all over the world. But it’s only in AMS where I’ve heard it threaten to offload your luggage.

      • Rhys says:

        26 Aug26 August 08:29

        There’s got to be a story behind the voice. She just sounds so sad….

        • Save East Coast Rewards says:

          26 Aug26 August 09:34

          I remember reading somewhere that she was an announcer at Schiphol. Presumably all the sounds were recorded neutral so it didn’t sound like she was enjoying the fact you’re about to miss your flight. I think as time goes on newer automated systems will sound less emotionless.

        • Chrisasaurus says:

          26 Aug26 August 10:28

          By the sounds of it she’s been stuck in Schiphol for 20 years!

        • Tim says:

          26 Aug26 August 10:38

          Isn’t it an Aviovox system? Synthesised using vowels – see this quick vid: https://youtu.be/ZrwZvwPmELA

      • Magic Mike says:

        26 Aug26 August 15:54

        Useless things I know: the HAL signage design is their intellectual property.

        https://www.flightglobal.com/baas-yellow-copyright-forces-gatwick-signage-change/92802.article

        • Rob says:

          26 Aug26 August 16:36

          Fantastic, thanks.

      • Michael says:

        26 Aug26 August 21:24

        Black on yellow or yellow on black are very easy to read, especially for those with a vision impairment. We use the combination for signs to our eye clinic in the hospital and on name badges, as recommended by RNIB.

    • Dubious says:

      26 Aug26 August 17:54

      Not just the UK – Australiasia and parts of South East Asia have cottoned on to the idea too…

      Ever departed from Terminal 2 of Melborne (Tullamarine) Airport in Australia? It must have the record for the longest duty free maze anywhere in the world.

• Read2goagain says:

  26 Aug26 August 07:27

  I went through yesterday… 6am flight so an early one for that terminal, still worth booking fast track security. It was definitely slightly less chaotic than the old terminal 2 (or 1 or 3 for that matter!) but I assume that’s the covid distancing effect rather than security doing the right thing.
  One notable missing shop is Boots – I didn’t need anything this time… but when flying hand luggage only I buy my toiletries there. Don’t know if it’s a later addition?
  No option for fast track passport control when returning in terminal 2 yet, so not looking forward to that!

  • Yorkieflyer says:

    26 Aug26 August 07:30

    No Boots would be a deal breaker for me, no meal deal no fly

• Matty says:

  26 Aug26 August 07:32

  I was next to someone who had their BA Club Europe butter knife (or whatever it is) confiscated at Manchester in May.
  “No airline in the world will let you fly with that” and “You could do a lot of damage with that”.

  • Mr(s) Entitled says:

    26 Aug26 August 07:51

    Why would anyone try and take a butter knife with them?

    • Matty says:

      26 Aug26 August 08:50

      He said he worked away on building sites and used it for his sandwich spread.

      • Paul Pogba says:

        26 Aug26 August 09:14

        Building sites usually have their own set of Greenhams finest/cheapest cutlery so that sounds very odd.

  • Rhys says:

    26 Aug26 August 07:57

    “That’s an offensive weapon that is”…

  • davef says:

    26 Aug26 August 09:16

    Last time through there they made me wait next to an unmasked woman with a bag full of creams/makeup/bottles etc for 15 mins and let her through with it all, then slowly searched my bag and confiscated a credit card sized “multi-tool” which doubles as a mobile phone holder – which had no blades apart from a 1 mm long screwdriver part.

    Every time I go through MAN they flag me for a second ‘random’ check because the scanner says there’s an issue with my right lower leg/shoe. (No other airport in the world has ever done that – 89 airports and counting)

    I despise MAN so much I’m thinking of moving somewhere within easier reach of LHR – ugggh

• Mark says:

  26 Aug26 August 07:40

  As many have said, unless a new airport means new staff then it’s all pointless. I have had the misfortune of flying out of MAN a few times and it is the worst airport experience I have had.

  • Bagoly says:

    26 Aug26 August 08:32

    I fear you may be right.
    But there is a possibility that a better working environment will lead to a somewhat better attitude.

    • the_real_a says:

      26 Aug26 August 12:54

      There is a lot of truth in that. If everyday you have 10-20 annoyed people complaining about things you really dont have any control over, the result rather quickly is utterly hating your job. New buildings often offer better flow, modern equipment and a decent new staff areas.

      • The Savage Squirrel says:

        26 Aug26 August 13:45

        100% correct.

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