With huge delays and chaotic scenes in recent weeks, Manchester Airport passengers had been warned to arrive early. Staff shortages have been blamed for the huge queues that have recently blighted the airport, once the jewel in the region's crown and still crucial to its economy.
Airport bosses are warning that business as usual won't return until the summer at least, as a huge recruitment drive takes place. But ahead of a busy weekend which marks the beginning of the Easter holidays for many, things were calm at Manchester Airport this morning (April 8).
Passengers heard the call from mayor Andy Burnham to arrive three hours early and they did - with many turning up four or even five hours before departure. It meant queues at both terminals one and two were focused in the check-in area.
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Customers sat with suitcases waiting for their airline's desks to open up, before jostling for position in the line. Throughout the morning and early afternoon, the queues were occasionally busy but moving, and far from the chaos seen previously.
"I envisaged queues going down the tunnel coming from the railway station," said Matt Sykes, who was travelling to Perth in Australia via Doha in Qatar alongside wife Jan. They had been in a queue for check-in at terminal two for 40 minutes and were not halfway along the line, but the situation was far better than they feared.
The couple, from Elland in West Yorkshire, were off to see their daughter and grandson - who they had not seen since before the pandemic. "We've not seen him since he was four months old," Jan said. "He's nearly three now so we are really excited."
Manchester Airport was bustling with travellers who had similar tales of holidays and reunions they have waited so patiently for over the past couple of years. Julie Lyon had planned her holiday before Covid - and after two years of delays, she was off to the Maldives.
She arrived at the airport at 9.45am for a 3pm flight. She said: "Everything has been smooth so far, but have we have come quite early. We're from North Yorkshire so we had to allow for all the traffic on the M62 - you never know what you're going to get on a Friday there.
"It is better than we expected to be fair [at the airport], but we haven't dropped our bags off yet. I just hope we get there - I won't believe it until we are there."
Helen Rogers-Leggatt, from Shropshire, arrived at around 8am for her 11.50am flight to France. It was the first time she had flown in over two years and she wasn't entirely sure where to go inside the airport, but says she had an 'excellent experience' with staff helping her.
"I expected it to be a lot busier," she said. "There's been a lot of bad media [coverage] I have to say, but everybody so far has been brilliant.
"I was told where security was, but when I got there I realised I had not checked my bag in. I got out of the queue and spoke to a security person, and they were really helpful. I came back here for check-in, but I'm far too early."
Passengers waiting for check-in told the Manchester Evening News they were worried about how security would be, but throughout the day reports were positive. Passengers took to Twitter to praise airport staff after making it through security in just 10 to 30 minutes - far quicker than during the airport's busiest recent periods.
Manchester Airport does still have work to do to restore confidence among all its passengers however - particularly for those who believe it had other faults in the first place. One traveller from Huddersfield, who gave his name as Mr Riaz, had been disappointed by the 'atrocious' situation he faced at parking before facing a 'slow but moving' queue for check-in.
"It's a bit of a shame that they were not prepared after Covid to know that people would be coming, wanting to go abroad," he said. "They should have anticipated the demand."
As the airport prepares for the Easter break, chief executive Charlie Cornish has apologised to passengers for the disruption, and warned it could continue until the summer months. He said: "I cannot apologise enough for the disruption people have faced. The simple fact is that we don’t currently have the number of staff we need to provide the level of service that our passengers deserve."
Mr Cornish added: “I also want to be clear that a huge amount of work is going into improving the situation in the short-term. Our focus for the next four weeks is on delivering a more predictable and reliable level of service for passengers.”
