A Which? magazine survey has placed Manchester Airport among the worst in Britain, with two of its three terminals ranked at the bottom of a national league table amid complaints about queues, poor facilities and baggage handling.
Which? said it surveyed 5,789 people about 7,975 visits over the past 12 months and rated Manchester’s Terminal 1 and Terminal 3 as among the least pleasant in the country; Terminal 2 finished fourth from bottom. The appraisal covered 11 categories, including cancellations, customer service, queues for check-in, bag drop and security, the availability of seats, food and drink and toilets, and average wait times for baggage.
Which? published percentage approval scores showing Terminal 3 at 43 percent, Terminal 1 at 47 percent and Terminal 2 at 53 percent. The consumer group also noted severe dissatisfaction with retail and catering prices and with seating availability. Respondents described long queues at security and check-in, limited food and drink options, and inconsistent customer service.
Passengers interviewed and cited in media coverage recounted personal disruptions and safety concerns. Rhiannon Cooper, a traveller quoted in reporting on the survey, said she had been left without an airport wheelchair despite booking assistance in advance and described a panicked dash to the gate. An undercover Channel 4 investigation in 2022 found passengers so frustrated by delayed baggage that some attempted to retrieve luggage by crawling onto conveyor belts, a practice that raised safety questions and drew attention to ground-handling arrangements.
Manchester Airports Group and airport executives strongly disputed the Which? findings. Managing director Chris Woodroofe said the survey was "outdated and unrepresentative" of the experience of the millions who use the complex. He pointed to the airport's own passenger research, saying that between January and June this year, 91 percent of 3,045 surveyed customers rated their experience as good, very good or excellent. Woodroofe highlighted a multi-year transformation programme worth about £1.3 billion, saying Terminal 2 had been upgraded and that plans to invest significantly in Terminal 3 would begin this year.
Airport officials also disputed the headline ranking on methodological grounds, a line echoed by spokespeople at other airports criticised in the Which? report who called the sample size unrepresentatively small. Manchester Airports Group said the facility connects tens of millions of people a year to more than 200 destinations and defended its performance, including a low proportion of last-minute flight cancellations compared with some other UK airports.
Passengers and campaigners, however, pointed to a string of high-profile operational failures in recent years. After Covid-19, the airport experienced staff shortages and long queues in 2022 that led to cancelled flights and chaotic scenes at terminals and drop-off areas. In June 2024, an electrical fault reported at about 1:30 a.m. knocked out systems for baggage, boarding passes and passport control; local reports said the interruption, although brief, triggered cascading failures that left flights delayed or diverted and prompted a high number of cancellations.
The airport was also affected by a power cut in Terminal 3 earlier this year that temporarily disabled lights and border control computer terminals, according to regional reporting. Operational responsibility for some ground services has been questioned: Swissport, the baggage-handling firm highlighted by media reporting, said later that its problems were not solely down to its staff levels.
Other incidents have stoked public anger about enforcement and charges. Manchester operates a "borderless" drop-off system in which motorists pay online rather than at a barrier; the system has led to fines and appeals. In one widely reported case, driver Eric Moffatt said he was fined £25 after stopping briefly to find a restroom for his daughter and granddaughter; airport staff told him the fine could be increased on appeal. Drop-off charges are set at £5 for five minutes or £6.40 for 10 minutes under the current scheme.
Safety and policing controversies have also drawn scrutiny. Video footage released after an altercation in a Terminal 2 car park showed an officer kicking a man who lay prone; subsequent reporting said the man, Mohammed Fahir Amaaz, had assaulted a member of the public inside the terminal and had struck officers. Police and public-protection regulators have reviewed aspects of the incident, and court proceedings related to alleged assaults continue.
Operational incidents involving airlines have added to delays. On Aug. 15, two easyJet aircraft clipped wings on a taxiway and lost wing tips, forcing inspections and delaying subsequent flights; easyJet said it was investigating how the contact occurred.
Manchester Airport is the busiest airport in Britain outside London and spans about 1,400 acres. Passenger figures cited in reporting vary; the airport and Manchester Airports Group have referenced different totals in public statements, with the company saying it connects about 31 million people a year to more than 200 destinations while other figures in reporting have referred to roughly 23 million passengers.
The Which? findings have prompted debate over how to measure airport performance and passenger satisfaction at large, multi-terminal hubs. Manchester’s management says its ongoing investment programme and weekly passenger feedback show improving service, while travellers and consumer groups point to recurring incidents and on-the-ground experiences that, they say, are not captured by headline statistics.
Airport executives have defended progress made since the worst disruption years and pledged further investment in facilities and staffing. Consumer groups and some passengers say sustained improvements in queue management, baggage handling and basic amenities will be needed to reverse the airport’s low rankings and restore confidence among flyers.