Manchester

A Legacy of Private Aviation

MAN originated in 1935 in Ringway, achieving partial operation by June 1937, with construction completed on June 25th,1938. Upon full operation, the first airline to commence regularly scheduled flights to the airport was KLM. During WWII, the Royal Air Force used the airport to manufacture military aircraft and train parachutists. Following the war, MAN reverted to civilian use (with Air France beginning service in 1946 and 24-hour operations from 1953) and, by the 1960s, was the second-busiest airport in the UK, following London Heathrow. In 1963, transatlantic flights commenced via BOAC (using a Boeing 707) to NYC three times a week. The runway was extended to 9,006 feet in 1969, enabling aircraft carrying a full load to fly non-stop to Canada. 1971 saw the airport service 2 million passengers, and in 1975 the airport was renamed Manchester International Airport. However, growth continued, and in 1987 MAN serviced 1 million passengers a month, which brought about expansion plans. As such, Terminal A (now part of Terminal 3) opened in 1989, and in 1993 Terminal 2 opened as well. Furthermore, from 1997 to 2001, a second runway was constructed despite large-scale protests (as natural habitats were disturbed and listed buildings were demolished). In the early 2000s, British Airways scaled down operations at MAN following the sale of their BA Connect subsidiary to Flybe (which took over BA’s routes and added more destinations on their own). One casualty of these moves was the daily New York-JFK service, which ended in October 2008. In 2010 MAN began to service the Airbus A380 via Emirates to Dubai, which continues to operate the route up to three times per day. In 2013 a new air traffic control tower opened, now as a free-standing tower (as opposed to being on top of the airport, as had been done previously). The following year the Manchester Metrolink route was added as part of expansion plans for the Manchester Metrolink tramway. A new Terminal 2 was constructed, with the first part (Pier 1) opening in April 2019 and the remainder opening in July 2021. However, between 2017 and 2020, Monarch Airlines, Thomas Cook Airlines, and Flybe went into administration and ceased operations, leading to significant impacts on local employment and the functioning of MAN. Amongst other issues, many passengers were stranded, and planes were left parked at the airport. The Flybe liquidation was particularly difficult, as over half of all domestic flights from Manchester outside of London were under their service. The number of passengers served was further depressed by the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.