Manchester Airport’s ‘end of an era’ for Terminal 1

Airline passengers who have been visiting Manchester Airport’s Terminal 1 since it opened in the 1960s have been reminiscing at the “end of an era”.

Large sections of the terminal have now closed as all passengers except those with Ryanair will now go through the revamped Terminal 2.

A spokesperson for the airport said staff have been “really touched by all the lovely comments and by people sharing their memories”.

One passenger told the BBC: “It’s been here as long as I remember, right from being a little girl it’s just strange seeing it [empty] like this.

“I remember the chandeliers, and you used to be able to stand on top of the terminal to watch the planes coming in and out, but that was like 50 years ago,” she added.

Fans of the terminal’s well-known chandeliers will still be able to see them in Terminal 2, where they are being resurrected to form a new piece of art.

An airport spokesperson said: “Even though we love Terminal 1, we weren’t really prepared for just how many other people share our affection for it.

“It may be the end of an era for Terminal 1 as we know it, but we wanted to take some time to really celebrate it because it’s truly a part of the history of the North and plays a key part in lots of people’s memories of international travel.”

The terminal was opened by Prince Philip in 1962 and entered its final phase of closure last week.

Ryanair is now the only carrier that will operate from a hybrid of Terminal 1 and 3 until the full closure of Terminal 1 early next year.

Terminal 2 has undergone a 10-year, £1.3bn transformation which has more than doubled its size.

An extension to the terminal opened in 2021, and the airport is now in the final stages of overhauling the original Terminal 2.

However passengers are concerned it will not be able to accommodate the increase in traffic.

“It’s a shame that they are closing it, they think it’s not going to get congested – of course it’s going to get congested!” one traveller said.

“How long is it going to take? There’s so many people coming to Manchester, I think they should have left it open,” another said.

However a spokesperson for the airport said people do not need to worry about extra traffic.

“There is absolutely nothing that anybody needs to worry about, we have invested in the terminal facility and the road network as well,” they said.