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Manchester Airport Information
Manchester Airport is a major airport located at Ringway in the City of Manchester within Greater Manchester, UK, and is the busiest airport in the country outside the London region in terms of passenger numbers. It offers non-stop scheduled flights to destinations around the world. A small part of the airport extends into Cheshire East. The terminals are located —7.5 NM (13.9 km; 8.6 mi) southwest of Manchester city centre. It officially opened on 25 June 1938, and was initially known as Ringway Airport. During World War II it was called RAF Ringway, and from 1975 until 1986 the title was Manchester International Airport. The airport is owned and managed by the Manchester Airports Group (MAG), which is a holding company owned by the ten metropolitan borough councils of Greater Manchester, and is the largest British-owned airport group. Each of these councils has their coat of arms displayed on banners hung from the lamp posts approaching the airport. The airport has won awards including World's Best Airport 1995 and Travel Weekly Globe Awards' UK Best Airport 2008. The airport has two parallel runways, three terminals and a ground transport interchange, including a railway station. Manchester Airport has a CAA Public Use Aerodrome Licence (Number P712) that allows flights for the public transport of passengers and for flying instruction. In 2009, Manchester Airport handled 18,724,889 passengers with 172,515 aircraft movements, making it the fourth busiest airport in the United Kingdom in passenger numbers and third in terms of total aircraft movements. Operations and statisticsPassenger numbers
Manchester is the fourth busiest airport in the UK and the biggest outside of London, in terms of annual passenger throughput. In 2007, Manchester Airport was the world's 22nd busiest airport in terms of international passengers, down from 19th position in 2006 and 17th in 2005. In 2009 18.7 million passengers used the airport, a reduction of 11.8% compared with 2008 and below the 2001 total. There were 172,515 aircraft movements during the year, the third highest in the UK. Ground transportRailManchester Airport railway station, opened in May 1993, forms part of The Station and is located between Terminals 1 and 2. It is linked to the terminals using a Skylink moving walkway. Trains are operated either by Northern Rail or TransPennine Express and connect the airport to Manchester Piccadilly Station and other railway stations mainly throughout northern England, but some trains come from as far as Edinburgh. A third rail platform was completed in December 2008 to allow for an increase in rail capacity and also to meet increasing passenger numbers using the facility. There has also been a proposal to link the Manchester to Manchester Airport line to the Chester to Stockport line which would allow faster trains between the airport and parts of Cheshire, Merseyside and North Wales. Bus and coachThe Station is the airport's ground transport interchange and brings bus, coach and rail passengers under one roof. Over 300 trains, 100 coaches and 500 buses a day use the facility. Buses serve many locations throughout Greater Manchester, including the 24-hour bus service Skyline (service 43), which runs every 30 minutes to Manchester city centre via Wythenshawe, Northenden, Withington, Fallowfield and Rusholme. There is also Skyline (service 19) operating every hour to Altrincham via Wythenshawe and Sale. A network of National Express coach services serve Manchester Airport and operate to destinations further afield, including as far as Dublin. RoadThe airport is a 20 minute drive from Manchester city centre and is reached by the M56 motorway, with a dedicated approach road from the motorway at junction 5. The M56 is the main route used by traffic to reach the airport. There are also minor local roads serving the airport from the north (Wythenshawe) and the east (Heald Green). The M56/A538 road junction serves the World Freight Terminal, to the west of the airport. The A538 runs east-west serving the local towns of Altrincham and Wilmslow. ParkingThe airport's official short-stay car parking can be found in the multi-storey car parks adjacent to Terminals 1, 2 and 3. In July 2007 the airport introduced a 'No Waiting' restriction on all access roads surrounding the terminals. This was a direct result of the 2007 Glasgow International Airport attack and so all pick-ups must take place by using the short-stay car parks. In 2009/2010 Terminal 1's multi storey car park has been refurbished. Each level of the car park is colour coded. The floor, walls, ceiling and supports have all received a repaint with every parking space having a sensor and green light above it, empty parking bays are indicated by the green light. TramThe Manchester Metrolink light rail system has had plans to extend to the airport for many years. When the failed idea of a congestion charge was brought in, part of the scheme was to extend the Metrolink to the airport. However, when this was rejected the future of the scheme was in doubt. In 2009, it was announced that the line to the airport will finally be built. The airport line will be one spur of the line from St. Werburgh's Road, to East Didsbury and Manchester Airport. The Metrolink line is due to open in 2012 and Manchester Airport's tram station is due to open in 2016. Public attractionsManchester Airport has created public viewing areas since the airport opened to the public in 1938. The 1960/1970s pier-top facilities have been closed because of security concerns. In May 1992, an official "Aviation Viewing Park" (AVP) was created just off the A538 road on the south-western side of the airfield. This was relocated to the western side of the airfield in May 1997 to allow construction of the second runway. Renamed the "Runway Visitor Park" in June 2010, the facility is regarded as providing the best official viewing facilities for aircraft spotting at any major UK airport. Visitors can view aircraft taking off and landing from both runways, as well as aircraft taxiing to and from the runways. Manchester Airport links» Manchester Airport Wikipedia Information Hotels Closest to Manchester Airport |
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