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Excellent £99 deal for the aether private terminal at Manchester is now permanent

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aether, as regular readers may remember, is the ‘pay to use’ VIP terminal at Manchester Airport.

It originally opened in November 2019 as PremiAir. Little did we know that covid was around the corner, causing the terminal to shut before it could get established. After a closure of almost five years, the terminal re-opened its doors in November 2024 under a new name – aether.

The key thing to know is that ANYONE can use aether if they are flying on a participating airline. 

aether terminal

We ran a detailed review of aether here so we won’t repeat ourselves.

The key things to know are:

  • aether is nowhere near the main terminal and you cannot walk between them.  It was built next to the Runway Visitor Park, on land which was originally given over to plane spotters.
  • aether is located on the edge of the airfield facing the runway. It is astonishing how close you are to passing aircraft.
  • There are no shops, no takeaways and no long walks through busy crowds. You literally have your own private security and immigration channel, plus your own driver to take you to your gate.
  • aether has teamed up with Manchester chef Adam Reid to create its menus. All food is served a la carte and is cooked to order, and everything is included in your entry fee.

What is the aether £99 deal?

For the summer, aether introduced a VERY attractive £99 deal. It proved so popular that it is now a permanent part of the offering.

This is ONLY available to people travelling without checked baggage.

aether terminal manchester airport

For £99, you get:

  • Entry to aether from two hours prior to flight departure
  • One course from the Adam Reid menu
  • Two complimentary drinks
  • Private security
  • Chauffeur-driven car to your gate

You’re not getting unlimited alcohol and you’re not getting to choose from the full food and drink menu, but £99 is laughably good value – especially when compared to the standard Manchester Airport experience over in the main terminal ….

What other packages are available?

aether continues to offer its other two packages, which offer a more expansive food and drink offering and a longer stay, plus an arrivals package:

  • Inclusive with cabin baggage – for hand baggage only passengers. You pay from £179 and can arrive from three hours before departure. You have full access to the facilities including food and drink. You will clear immigration and security in aether and be driven across the airport to your gate 60 minutes before departure. 
  • Inclusive with checked baggage – as above, but your luggage is taken from you when you arrive and transferred separately to the main terminal. The cost is from £199.
  • Arrivals with cabin baggage – anyone arriving with only cabin baggage can be met at their gate and driven to aether from private immigration. The cost is £99.

You can find out more, and book, on this page of the aether website here. You’ll also find details on how you can combine it with valet parking if you are coming in your own vehicle.

Comments (79)

  • NL says:

    Typos … perhaps it’s too early on a Sunday for Rob 🙁

    “aether continues to OTHER its other two packages, which offer a more expansive food and drink offering and a longer stay, plus an arrivals package:”

    response at 08h20
    “I don’t understand how you THING MAG could have got around this, given that the airline must scan the boarding pass.”

  • NL says:

    Typos … perhaps it’s too early on a Sunday for Rob 🙁

    “aether continues to OTHER its other two packages, …”

    response at 08h20
    “I don’t understand how you THING MAG could have got around this, given that the airline must scan the boarding pass.”

    • Ken says:

      I’d imagine it would be great and seems a bargain considering the T2 Aspire lounge walk up price is £46

      Couple of points though.
      Queues for security have been minimal in last 12 months. Through in anything between 90 secs and 10 mins.
      The drop off at the gate is never going to ideal.
      What happens when it’s a remote stand and you are bussed ?

  • Adam P says:

    Does anybody know whether they plan to expand to other airlines for checked baggage, and what has determined the current supported airlines (e.g. Cathay is supported, Qatar is not)? We mostly fly QR/SG long haul, and largely have checked baggage when we do, so currently can’t use aether.

    • Rob says:

      Down to the airline being willing to accept bags which are dropped by someone who is not travelling. You can see the security issue.

    • blue_wolf says:

      Same issue for easyJet and Ethiopian Airlines too. Ethiopian I admit is probably a niche carrier (apart from the 5th freedom MAN-GVA route), but not supporting easyJet for checked luggage prevented me from booking this for my mother recently…

  • Bill says:

    I would rather pay £99 to travel to LPL and depart with the masses from there

  • ChrisA says:

    If there had been something like this at JFK T8 on Friday, I would have probably given my life savings and a kidney to avoid the terminal. I had just survived the 15.5hr Auckland to JFK in Y, but the 4 hours of queues to get through customs and then security again for flight back to LHR were painful. Sadly, I suspect it can be even worse there.

  • Sandgrounder says:

    Lots of negativity here. For me, its probably best combined with twilight bag drop and an overnight stay for an early departure. But I imagine it will also work because of the guaranteed window for a relatively late arrival before the flight. Meeting in Manchester, cab to aether and on the shuttle to Heathrow.
    It’s probably not for those who consider £99 to be a significant amount of money, and I doubt it was ever intended to be so.

    • Ken says:

      If you are doing twilight bag drop and staying (at airport hotel ?), I’m not sure why you would need to get to the airport the next morning that early anyway.

      You get taken to gate an hour before departure time, so I’m not sure how much time you are saving.

      My biggest fear (driving) going to Manchester in the morning is the M56 (or 62) being closed. Place still looks like a building site, but the security process is miles better than a few years ago. I feel relaxed getting there 90 mins before a flight. If it was an evening flight and no checked luggage I wouldn’t panic if it was only 60 mins

    • Throwawayname says:

      A few years back, I needed to catch an early evening flight after working for most of the day on the other side of the Pennines, so I caught a TPE train to the airport scheduled to arrive 70 mins before departure, it was 6-7 minutes late, I was flying from the dreaded T3 and still made the luggage drop off with ca. 10 minutes to spare.

      Admittedly I haven’t done a tight departure from T2, and that does require more walking to the gates, but I imagine arriving at T2 60 minutes before departure would still be absolutely fine for anyone who’s entitled to (or has paid for) fast track security. However, I can see this £99 thing working well for people travelling on business without luggage, particularly if their meetings are in some office/retail park out in the sticks where taxis are unavoidable.

      • HampshireHog says:

        Good grief, my risk appetite with TPE is to arrive 3 hours before departure. Especially with the endless railway improvements and ‘special’ bus services.

        • Throwawayname says:

          My plan had been very different, but KLM cancelled my 20:XX flight 15 days before departure (so no 261 compo!). I had a meeting in Eindhoven the following morning so was forced to take the last flight to CDG at 18:XX, spend the night at an airport hotel, and even sue them for all of £150 after they failed to keep their promise to reimburse me!

  • blue_wolf says:

    Does anyone know if they have the new security machines (leave everything in your bag) at aether or do you still have to take liquids out etc?

  • Alex says:

    The voucher code AETHERCABIN25 also gives 25% off the £179 package, taking it to £134. Not a bad deal for an extra hour in the lounge and the fuller menu.

    For me personally Aether was spectacularly good and have already booked again. There is nothing like it at any other airport I’m aware of for less than a four-digit sum.

    • Throwawayname says:

      I believe that various airports around the world do offer VIP meet and assist services with expedited everything plus access dedicated lounges for similar sorts of money, but those typically don’t involve an entirely separate terminal [and they typically don’t go out of their way to promote those services as they’re labour-intensive and not easy to profit from].

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