Manchester International
Airport
|
|
Tour Centre
Guided tours of Manchester Airport for groups . Email:
tourcentre@tasmanchester.com
Aviation Society Spotter's Club
Membership Enquiries:
Email: a.birtles@btinternet.com
TAS Information Centre Office
Winged Words and Flight Check publications. Tel: 0161-489
2443
Email: admin@tasmanchester.com
See Main Page - Airport
Parking
Manchester has a long association
with aircraft and flying. From the early days of the Avro
and the Lancaster bomber to the contemporary supersonic
elegance of British Airways Concorde.
It was in 1934 that Manchester
City Council approved the building of Ringway Airport,
which was opened in 1938 with the completion of the original
terminal and the commencement of scheduled flights.
However, the Second World War brought
a swift halt to scheduled flights in 1939, and for the
duration it was the home base of 613 Squadron RAF and
the Parachute Training School.
Scheduled air services recommenced
in 1946 and in 1948, the airport saw the first visit by
a military jet aircraft. In the following years the original
runway was extended several times (in 1951 to 5900 feet,
in 1959 to 7000 feet, in 1961 to 7500 feet, in 1965 to
7900 feet, in 1969 to 9200 feet, in 1982 to 10,000 feet.
In the meantime, the airport
had seen the arrival of its first "jumbo" aircraft in
1970, and of the first visit by "Concorde" in 1976.
In 1975, the airport changed its name
to "Manchester International Airport" and in 1986 "Manchester
Airport PLC" was incorporated, at which time it changed
its name to the present form : "Manchester Airport". In
1992 the Railway Station and the new Terminal 2 were opened.
Manchester Airport news page - a daily
updated airport news website: http://www.uk-airport-news.info/manchester-airport-news.ht
|
Nowadays, over 20 million
passengers pass through its booking hall. Originally called
"Ringway Airport", it is now the third biggest international
air terminal in Britain. Rail linked to the city centre,
it takes only 15 minutes to reach, though it is 10 miles
out. Air traffic controllers currently handle 94 airlines,
with over 170 world-wide destinations.In 1994, the airport
handled over 73,000 metric tonnes of cargo and freight.
It has come a long way since the City
Council first decided to build a municipal "aerodrome"
in 1929, and the first arrival of an "international" service
landed in 1938 in the form of a KLM DC-2 from Amsterdam.
Manchester Airport is
unlike most other major UK airports in that it is not
run by the British Airports Authority (BAA), as most are,
but it is independently managed by Manchester Airport
PLC, and owned by all 10 Metropolitan
Boroughs which make up Greater Manchester. It is most
proud of its independent status, and this is reflected
in its mission to become "the Best World Airport".
Many further developments
are planned, including the provision of airline offices,
major terminal extension and refurbishments, a second
runway (currently under construction), a new public transport
interchange with the full integration of the City's Metrolink
tram/train service, the building of a new Inter-Continental
5 Star Hotel, various
extensions to the Arrival Halls, and generally increased
capacities for expected passenger growth. The Airport
anticipates more than 30 million passengers annually by
the end of the decade.
See
- Main Entry
http://www.airport-codes.co.uk.
Complete listing of air ports and their corresponding
codes worldwide.
|
|
|
|
|
