manchester Airport Information
About Manchester Airport Facilities
Manchester Airport provides a wide range of facilities including those for business, children and the disabled. Taxi ranks are situated by arrivals at all three terminals. National Express operates a coach service serving the airport and also the Manchester Cornubation bus service includes the airport. In addition, it has its own train station, Manchester Airport railway station, in the heart of the airport complex. The Skylink moving walkway links the station and the three terminal buildings. There are regular trains running between the airport station to Manchester Piccadilly Station, and stations all over northern England, operated by either Northern Rail or First Transpennine Express.
The History of Manchester Airport
Manchester has an illustrious aviation history which started in 1910 when Louis Paulhan landed his Farman biplane in a field near Burnage, claiming the £10,000 Daily Mail prize as the first man to fly from London to Manchester.
After that numerous aerodromes appeared in and around Manchester, in an effort to deal with the increasing air traffic and in 1919 Britain's first ever scheduled air service began from a private airfield in Manchester, flying to South Shore, Blackpool via Birkdale Sands in Southport.
Despite the demand Manchester still had no permanent airport until 1926 when it became apparent that a permanent airport was essential otherwise the city would suffer commercially. In 1928 Barton, near Eccles was chosen as the site of Manchester's new aerodrome but in the meantime a temporary airfield was set up in Wythenshawe, opening for business in 1929. Barton was completed in 1930, including a control tower and large hangar, both of which are standing today.
In 1934 discussions began with KLM, the Dutch airline with a view to setting up a Holland-North of England service. Barton Aerodrome was considered inadequate for larger aircraft and it was decided that the required improvements would be excessively expensive. Consequently it was decided to commence work on a new airport and land at Ringway, South of Manchester was earmarked as the chosen site.
Work began on the new airport in 1935 and Ringway Airport, as it was known then, officially opened on 25th June 1938, with operations commencing two days later. In the first fourteen months of operations, Ringway handled 7,600 passengers.
With the advent of the Second World War Ringway Airport was used as an aeroplane manufacturing centre. It was also expanded to include three new runways and ten new hangars and in addition, it acted as a training centre for over 60,000 parachutists.
Normal service at Ringway resumed almost as soon as the war was over and by 1947 the number of passengers passing through the airport tripled to more than 34,000 per year.
In 1949, in order to cope with the increased demand, extended terminal facilities were opened in the converted wartime building and two years later the main runway was extended from 1,280 metres to 1,798 metres.
In 1952 the airport began operating on a 24 hour basis and the number of passengers had increased to 163,000 per year. The following year Belgian airline, Sabena introduced their first scheduled service to New York from Manchester.
In 1962 HRH the Duke of Edinburgh opened a new terminal at Manchester Airport, the first in Europe to incorporate the pier system, in which passengers remain under cover until ready to board their flight. This state of the art construction cost 2.7 million pounds.
Manchester Airport continued to expand and in 1969 the runway was extended to 2,745 metres, which would permit aircraft to take off with a full payload and fly non-stop to Canada.
Always keen to embrace new innovations in 1974 an inter-continental pier opened, capable of handling Boeing 747s and featuring travellators, waiting lounges and air conditioning. Also, for the first time air bridges connected passengers directly to the aircraft.
Demand continued to increase and by 1978 15 scheduled airlines were operating flights to 37 destinations in the UK, Europe and North America. Over a hundred companies operate at Manchester Airport, providing employment for more than 5,000 people.
In the following years, numerous improvements and developments have been carried out on the site, all of which have helped to make Manchester Airport the third busiest airport in the UK. In 2001, Manchester Airport was voted European Airport of the Year and the following year it was the major sponsor of the Commonwealth Games.
In 2003 a bid to house one of the retired Concorde fleet was successful and it is on display in the Aviation Viewing Park.
