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Manchester Airport pulls Terminal 3 re-opening at the last minute

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Manchester Airport was due to re-open Terminal 3 on Sunday. This is the first day of the Summer flying season and was meant to add capacity ahead of the busy Easter period.

The airport has found some technical issues with the terminal, it seems, which cannot be fixed quickly. This may be a polite way of admitting that the airport is struggling to recruit staff to replace those let go during the pandemic.

This means that there will be NO check-in available at Terminal 3 from Sunday. All passengers due to fly from Terminal 3 need to check-in and clear security at Terminal 1, which is a mess at the best of times. This situation will continue until the end of April, apparently.

British Airways, Iberia Express, Ryanair and Vueling passengers:

Your aircraft will still depart from a gate in Terminal 3. After clearing Terminal 1 security, you need to follow the internal signage to Terminal 3. A small number of shops and restaurants in Terminal 3 will still be open.

Your flight will arrive in Terminal 3 as planned.

Aurigny, Eastern Airways and Loganair passengers:

These flights have been moved to Terminal 1 departure gates, so you should remain in Terminal 1 after clearing security. (I imagine that these flights are bussed, because they use smaller aircraft, so it doesn’t really matter where passengers get on the bus.)

Your return flight will land in Terminal 3 as planned.

Hope that’s clear ….

Unsurprisingly – to anyone who uses Manchester Airport – Rhys’s attempt to review the new Aspire lounge in Manchester Terminal 2 yesterday failed because it was full. This is an underused terminal on a Wednesday during the school term. He was perfectly happy because he had access to the premium 1903 Lounge anyway, but it means our review will need to wait for another day. He was allowed to peer through the door and said it looked decent …..

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Comments (89)

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  • Bangers and Mash says:
    25 Mar25 March 23:59

    I used to work for MAG in a mid-level managerial/corporate position. All these comments are spot on. The company is a pathetic disgrace. From the very top on down. It’s actually quite astounding and hilarious the crap that goes on there. IFM don’t really have the balls or desire or ability to drive any real change which you would expect from a private infrastructure investor.

  • Frequent_Flyer says:
    26 Mar26 March 18:52

    I’ve departed and arrived through MAN on ten flights so far this month (five out, five back). More to come. All of the departures were fine (T1 x 2; T2 x 3). No issues at security, no delays to speak of. All five arriving flights came into T1. On one occasion (weekend, late evening), there was a queue of around 20 minutes to get through UK Border, as several flights had arrived in a short period of time. The queue moved at a steady pace throughout. On the other four occasions, it was pretty much straight through – and the luggage was on the carousels very quickly.

    Yes, Manchester Airport does have bad moments (as do other airports). But some comments on here are massively overhyping the issues. They’re occasional, not ever-present. I strongly suspect that some are posting with an agenda to promote use of competing airports closer to their hearts for the purposes of improved planespotting opportunities.

  • Ian says:
    31 Mar31 March 20:01

    Iam due to fly out from terminal 3 but I’ve read above its shut do I still go to terminal 3 or 1 !!!!!!?????????

  • Tony says:
    7 Apr7 April 09:17

    Currently sitting in the 1903 lounge. It has few redeeming features. Packed to the rafters – had to wait for the EY flight to be called before getting a seat. Pre school age Kids running round shouting, food mediocre. Expectations had been set very high- its simply not delivering.

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

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