Manchester Airport Forum | MAN - General and Queries

I have opened this thread due to comments on the 'Locking Posts' thread and Johansen's nod as I personally think it is a good idea to have a general/query thread.

So, use this thread for general questions or queries about MAN that you feel would not be relevant in either the NVR, MAN Movements or MAN diverts.

Happy posting!!

Can anyone help me please?
I'm aware of the live flight information page on the manchesterairport.co.uk website; but i'm sure I recall on here about 12 months ago someone posted a link to another page on the airport website that gave live flight information that included freighters and other traffic.

If anyone knows what i'm talking about could you point me in the direction please?

Maybe it's www.flightstats.com

It was this arrivals
but then they started applying the filter that removed the Cargo and PVF flights

That's the one Betablockeruk, pity they started filtering it! Thanks for your help.

Thanks also interflug_62

Easyjet 997x just declared a pan emergency immediate divert to GATWICk

It landed at LGW at 07.54 without incident, so there can't have been anything seriously wrong with the aircraft itself. A medical emergency, perhaps?

Pressurisation, flew to Gatwick low.

Any more news on this? Was it a A319 or 320?

The flight in question was being operated by an A320.

Thanks for that Baltimore.

Ain't been on the forums for a while, busy getting the A350 wings out from Airbus Broughton

Travelled to Hamburg on business with EZY Tuesday 28th August returning Thursday 30th August, check in fine as well as security, no where to sit once I got to the bar, so headed down Pier C for a nose (haven%u2019t been there for about 2 years), escalator STILL not working, and at the end of Pier C I see they still have the old lighting and TV screens, although don't think the TV screens are used, a flight to Turkey was boarding (TCX) at gate 32 and there wasn't anything on them. Noticed some new jetbridges at gates 29 & 31 ( I think). Also, when the aircraft line up with the stand when arriving at T1 stands, do the sensors (if that's the correct term?) work? I noticed a SAS 737-800 stopping and then having to increase throttles twice to get closer to the airbridge at stand 24. I flew out of Pier B stand 2, looks ok inside now but outside horrible!

On return into stand 4, no problem from walking to immigration, 5 mins max from off the aircraft to immigration desks, 15mins waiting for luggage. When we arrived on stand, luggage was almost immediately starting to be unloaded, we were 100% full and most people had luggage but can't understand what takes them so long? How do they cope with A380! How far do they have to travel to deliver the luggage? Arrivals ok and I see the metrolink expansion is coming on a lot since I last saw it in May.

All in all not bad - that%u2019s it for now. Comments welcome.

Just recently all aircraft on C pier are marshalled onto stand, previously there was AGNIS PAPA boards and mirrors for the captain to position himself on stand, neither of these have 'sensors' and are extremely basic (but effective) ways of docking an aircraft. Chances are the captain either didn't apply enough power to turn onto stand or he was familiarising himself with the docking system. Slightly off topic, but T2 will soon be using AVGDS/Safedock (advanced visual guidance docking system), clever technology for you geeks who want to google it



Ok inside if you're flying out, but arriving it's awful.



15 minutes long ? That's quick! Once the aircrafts on stand it needs chocking, coned, steps positioned then they can start to open the hold doors, unsecure the nets and begin offloading baggage. Having to offload (lets say) 120 bags weighing 15kg a piece isn't an easy task for 3 men. Chances are they offloaded the whole lot in one go, put them onto trailers and then delivered them to the baggage hall in one lot (then you still have to take them off the trailers onto the belts). It's not unheard of for a certain handling agent at MAN to take up to 2 hours to deliver baggage...

As for the A380, it's containerised so a lot easier.

TEMPORARY CHANGE TO DUAL-RUNWAY OPERATING HOURS
Impact:
Moderate
1.0
SUMMARY
Due to work-in-progress adjacent to the Runway 05R-23L Instrument Strip, dual-runway operating hours are to be reduced for a five-day period commencing Monday, 24th September 2012. The location of works will also require daily temporary outages of the Glidepath Equipment serving Runway 05L.
2.0
PROGRAMME
2.1
With effective from Monday, 24th to Friday 28th September 2012 inclusive.
3.0
OPERATIONAL IMPLICATIONS
3.1
Dual-runway operating hours will be 06:30%u201309:30hrs (local) and 18:00-20:00hrs (local), Monday 24th to Friday 28th September 2012.
3.2
At all other times the airport will operate using Runway 05L-23R only.
3.3
The Runway 05L Glidepath Equipment will remain out of service 09:30-18:00hrs (local), Monday 24th to Friday 28th September 2012. During outage periods,

Sounds like spin to me. May try that one at work tomorrow. "By not turning my pc on I will save enough electricity to make a hundred cups of tea for underpriveledged children."

Why not fit sensors to the excalators to permit auto start/stop?

Expensive and pointless.

They're already in the process of removing them, they're completely gone from T2 departures and slowly disappearing from T1. Nice luxury to have but they're costly to maintain and consume a lot of leccy

Not a MAN based question but how long have MON been operating out of ORK and how can anyone book it when it's not on the destination pull down?

From ORK - MON7188 ZB7188 Palma de Mallorca Son San Juan A320

#1 - by jagman523 on Fri September 14, 2012 at 15:00 GMT

hi guys strange question i know but does anyone know the index of the 757 involved in this back strike back in 2007. ive looked everywhere cant find any info on it. thanks

That seems at odds with general progress. They were obviously thought necessary by the terminal designers. Perhaps they need replacing with more reliable and energy efficient kit? Is this a trend at airports all around the world or simply MAG penny pinching?

It's probably an IT flight for a holiday company. As such it wouldn't be bookable.

I've always thought travelators were a bit pointless on the C pier. It isn't long enough to justify them.

They are also not entirely safe and there are disability issues in using them. They take up a load of space as well as all that underfloor machinery is a nightmare.

Sorry to be pedantic guys.

I don't mind a MAN queries thread to mop up any 'out of place' questions, but please can we make sure its actually MAN related?

Many thanks

Are any of the airport workers on here going to be singing with Gareth Malone on TV in the next few weeks? (The Choir: Sing While You Work, BBC2, Thursdays)

Hi,

Just wondered if anyone could point me in the direction of a website that can explain how holding systems work and show maps of the MAN hold areas?

Thanks

All the documentation is here:

EGCC charts

Anything wrong at MAN?

Few aircraft have done a loop of Buxton, and now LS832 from PMI has done a loop of Derby on its way in?

Never seen an aircraft do that before?

I think it was just the A380 causing a few delays. Not sure why LS832 did 2 separate holds though.

Well they have to a 15 mile gap behind the A380 as it infringes the ILS localizer. With single runway operations and a busy time for arrivals anyway, it usually results in a 10-15min hold for the aircraft behind the A380. Hope that helps.

Is 15 miles just Manchester, or the same at say Heathrow?

Has anyone seen whether there are any team/fans flights booked in for Borussia Dortmund coming over to face Man City this week in the football?

Yes, LHR use the same protected range (i.e. 15 nautical miles) for any aircraft on ILS approach.

Sorry, my bad - I read it as though the Emirates was on the deck.

Thanks for the reponse, Kieb.

Anyone know if Air Livery has been empty since G-VMEG left on the 18th Sep?

Business strangely quiet unless they are doing 'unreported' domestic stuff e.g. TOM, TXC, etc.

I think they do a bit of blow-over work at this time of year. Stuff going to Garuda for the Hajj and to Canada. There must be tons of work they have to do in preparation as well for contracts, as well as cleaning the place up!

Whitehatter

The lease aircraft (Garuda / Canadians) do not require work by Air Livery,
it is all just decal work which is carried out at Monarch / Thomas Cook while the a/c are having their checks done.

Air Livery has (as far as I can tell) been empty since VMEG left

Dave ...............

And the next one in will be G-VFAB B747-400. She is finally loosing her '21st Birthday colours'

In on 9th at 13:35 as VS811P and departs 19th at 11:45 as VS812P

There was a fight on the Aircraft!

hi all may have been answered recently, but are air blue still starting on October 16th with the a340's?
apologies again if its a repeat question, cheers,

lee

Doubt we'll see them in October, but I could be proved wrong... Air Blue management them selves don't even know when we're expecting the A340s so your guess is as good as mine as to when we'll see it.

Hello everyone.
Booked next years holiday to America and I'm flying UA from MAN on the UA21 to EWR and inbound on UA894 RDU - IAD then connecting onto UA100 IAD - MAN. Just wondered in general what UA is like transatlantic on those 757's (ie - comfort, service, food, entertainment) never flown long haul before - longest I've done so far is to LCA!

The UA 757's are actually quite nice. They have avod and the reviews seem to be quite good.

Have fun in the USA. There are some interesting places outside of the main 'tourist cities' such as BOS/NYC/ORD!

Have a play with this, if you can identify the correct type of 757....

SeatGuru

Good afternoon all. My first post, and it is typically a query. I'm the father of a young enthusiast of all transport we sometimes go to the airport pub and while away a day watching the comings and goings. Neither of us know any real information about planes it really is a case of he likes looking and maybe at some point take it a bit more seriously.
Anyhow, i digress already! Could anybody advise me if there is anything special/unusual during the half term week (w/c 28th October).
I have been lurking here for almost a year, and have gained some great information, but the fact is that I don't really know how it all corresponds with the planes we see landing. Such as runway/flight numbers-all beyond me!
Thank you in advance, and I apologise if this is the wrong place for the query put me right and i won't make the same mistake again.

Thanks world_rep! Avod sounds great for the 7:30 flight, not sure it'll get used on the overnight flight back especially after flying in and connecting from Raleigh as well!

Well I'm going touring for a week with TrekAmerica - taking in Washington DC, Gettysburg, Youngstown, Niagara Falls, The Berkshires and Boston, then I've a week to explore NYC and North Carolina for some fine beaches and southern cities! Really looking forward to it.

Hi HTheo.

I haven't heard of anything special scheduled, but that doesn't mean nothing will be planned between now and half term.

The best way to correlate the flights are 2 ways.

Flightcheck. Its a great resource, and can be used to work out whats what (for example if you see a flybe aircraft at 13:40, you can check the book and work out where it came from.
Flightcheck can be brought in the airport pub for I think, £2.50 (not brought it myself in a few years so cannot remember the price exactly).

Flightradar24. You can download the app (there is a free version), and it will give you information as to what is landing/taking off/going over the top. Quite easy to use, in real time and quite thorough. The only snag is that there are some aircraft that do not show, such as the majority of business jets, flybe aircraft and a large proportion of Embraer/Canadair jets.

Haha had a play with the seat guru thingy, think i got the right 757 (flat bed 752?) and I'm on seat 25F outbound and inbound, as well as 29 something on the A319 from Raleigh to Dulles, so no bad seat selections... if its the right aircraft of course, which I'm fairly certain it is (correct me if I'm wrong!)

seatguru is great for detailing legroom and facilities. Unfortunately, it doesn't answer the main question arising for my flights ... which "window" seats are actually aligned with an extended section of windowless fuselage thus offering no external views at all. Claustrophobic space and no views to compensate! Does anybody know of a good source for checking this kind of info?

Thanks for any useful tips!

Shed

Seat Guru does normally show that info ........

if you check out seat 28A or 28J on this MON A330 on the following link,
hover the cursor over the yellow seat and it tells you.

http://www.seatguru.com/airlines/Monarch_Airlines/Monarch_Airlines_Airbus_A330-200.php

Dave...........

Dave Jones

Thanks for that. I had been checking up on QTR A333's. Availablility of info concerning obscured 'window' seats seems to vary according to aircraft selection. Hopefully more variants will feature this type of information as the site gains more data.

Thomson757 asks: What times do the MD-11's come in?

Pole hill. see the previous nvr thread. times of all 3 flights are towards end of therr. on mobile so cannot copy and paste unfotunately.

The extra Lufthansa Cargo flight has now been confirmed in its online schedule, and the good news is, they are all daylight movements!

LH8203 arrives at 08:30 on Mondays and Thurdays, and departs at 10:45 the same day.

LH8165 arrives 12:20 on Saturdays, and departs 14:30 the same day.

Thanks to W-R
There you go Pole Hill Sid

Wasn't for me. Just cleaning up the threads.

Ahh ok ;)

Arrived back into Manchester in the pouring rain having left the elegant, clean surroundings of Frankfurt Rhine Main. On arrival at gate 25, the airbridge was connected and we de-planed. We had to step over a puddle of water in the airbridge that was a foot across and almost as wide as the bridge itself. Around the corner there was a plastic box catching further water as it came through the roof of the bridge and had some rubbish in it also. The carpet was sodden all along the floor and up the walls. What a very very bad first impression it left only to be followed by the downstairs turn left, turn right upstairs fiasco that our wondeful Dept. of Trade imbeciles require to keep in / out pax apart. On exiting the baggage hall, you have to weave carefully past Tax free sales (What a waste of space) and then be confronted by two of the three automatic exit doors which allow only one pax through at time, being out of service, thus quite a queue formed.
As an experience of a first impression which it was for quite a few, it was dire to the extreme. Don't get me going on the state of the vegetation on the M56 spur road! Nobody has any pride any more especially Manchester City council whose responsibility that is.
Any chance of unification with Germany?

Anybody know why we have 3 BA shuttles following each other up from LHR.

Are that many really necessary at this time?

Hangover from the BMI purchase. Probably a LHR slot issue i.e. use them or lose them.

Roger-that, the plastic bucket was a new one for me. The rest is spot on.

Anyone know the reg of the travel service B738 which landed around 5pm tonight??

My comp had a bit of a funny turn today and decided to shut itself down (well the wife is denying doing anything to it) so cant check my database.

Any help much appreciated

Andy

OK-TVB B738. Replaced OK-TVF yesterday

Many Thanks Kieb

Andy

Hello
This is my first post here, I'm heading to MAN on the 29th Oct (Sunday) and I was wondering would many people here know of the usual "heavies" and the times they do be arriving/departing at?

PAX & Cargo a/c would be what i'm looking for, found most of the pax flights on flightaware & flight stats but it doesn't show the cargo flights! (MD11, 744, Fedex, etc)

Also do you of anything else interesting that might be there apart from the scheduled flights?

Tried searching but couldn't really find anything relevant to the time or year/day i am going.

Thanks in advance.

Anyone know the reason for a late night visit from Adria tonight?

I think it`s to do with Land Rover launch

Cheers Ian!

heard aircraft call in last night pretty late when i was lay in bed

callsign gainjet

any idea what this was?

thanks

Greek VIP transport airline. Operate a mixture of exec jets and 737/757 exec

Can anyone tell me roughly what gate the 06:40 EZY to Alicante flys from on a Saturday morning. I like to go and chill out near the gates after I have done what I need to in the shops as it's usually quieter, but have done it in the past and ended up having to trawl to the other side of the terminal because I was sat in totally the wrong area.

Thanks

There's no way of knowing what gate it's going from until on the day, could be anywhere on C or B pier. Kindly ask a member of staff knocking around the airport and they'll probably tell you where it's going from

Hi everyone

I realise that opposite thr airport pub there used to be a large mound which gave a great view of 23R, I know that that has been taken down and replaced by a car park, but does anyone know if there is still a good view from the new car park?

Would be great to see aircraft landing from there, especially the A380.

Thanks, Jamlidd.

Thanks for your help Sam

Cat 1 approaches.

Can any of you technical guys just clarify something for me please? I thought that to make Cat 1 approaches, as well as an RVR requirement of 550 metres, the cloud base had to be at least 200ft. Is this no longer the case? At places like LBA and BHX in the last year or so, I'm sure I've heard a/c start approaches (because the RVR was ok) and land successfully with a cloud base of 100ft or even on the deck. Is it permissible to start and continue the approach but then break off if the lights are not seen at a decision height of 200ft?

Thanks for any info.

Roger-that - I haven't read a reply to your post yet but I hoped you enjoyed Frankfurt. Germany is a great country and with it clean and efficent, unlike some places in this country! I used to live in Hamburg for 2 years.

I thought EZY had gates 23 & 25 overnight now they are in T1? So LH parked at stand 25, from that gate once your off the airbridge you go down the corridor and into the immigration, thought the up & downstairs nonsense was at gates 6, 8 & 10 on Pier B? What is the progress with the replacement of T1 airbridges? And I know what you mean about the M56 spur road, it's terrible! I can't remember the last time that was sorted out!

Yes, provided that the RVR is at least 550 metres. As you correctly suggest, the minimum decision height for a CAT 1 approach is 200 metres. The cloud base itself is, however, to all intents and purposes, irrelevant when flying under EU OPS.

Hi A350. No we were definitely on 25, which was the same gate we departed from three days earlier. The upstairs / downstairs routine is not confined to Pier B, as on Pier C all stands on the South facing side have to cross over to North facing one in order to get to the customs hall, otherwise you' end up back in the Shopping Mall, However the routing in this case it's Downstairs first and then up!

As for air bridges, I didn't know that there was a replacement programme - certainly not seen any evidence of it yet! I think that MA would be better having a TERMINAL replacement prog.to bring what they already own into the 21st century and match or even surpass other airports rather than trying to buy yet more real estate darn sarf!

29, 31 and 32 have all had 2 new airbridges fitted. I believe there are plans in place to replace the whole of T1 but I'm not sure if there's any development on that, or if there is going to be any development on it anytime soon.

The airports main project at the moment seems to be the installation of the new SafeDock AVDGS to T2 in Phase 1, T1 in Phase 2, T3 in Phase 3 and finally remote stands in phase 4... At £30,000 a piece, to install them to EVERY stand (including left, right and centerlines of certain stands) can't be a cheap job.

Hi another request if i may,

Does anyone have the reg of the Norweigian that landed just after 12?

Many Thanks

Andy

Just before 12 LN-DYB
Just after 12 LN-DYJ

Just a quick question someone maybe able to help me with.
I'm off work this coming Tuesday and in the area around the airport so I was hoping on doing a bit of spotting for a couple of hours from 1100-1300 (my doubt my wife will let me stay any longer). Whilst there I also wanted to take a couple of pictures. I was either going to go to the AVP or the airport pub, can anyone recommend which would be best if any?

Many thanks.

LancasterBomber.

If you get a bright day like today the sun will be in front of you at both locations making good photo's very difficult.

You really need to be on the other side of the airfield. Follow the link and try to go to spot C if you are driving. You will get better photo's there, otherwise I'd go to the AVP.

http://www.plane-mad.com/airport-spotting-guides/united-kingdom/manchester-man-egcc.html

Thanks for the information and link Spike. Luckily the forecast for Tuesday looks cloudy so i'll have more options. That spot C looks good, failing that i'll go to the AVP.

Thanks again mate.

Also a lot cheaper than AVP

Evening All,

I'm off to Spain for Christmas, flying out to Malaga on EZY Sunday 23rd Dec and returning with EZY on Friday 4th January. Will I be on a A320 both ways? or is it too early to say? Also, will 23R will be the departing runway on Sunday 23rd Dec AM? Think our flights is around 7-7.30AM and I'm sure it's only 23R/05L in operation on Sunday mornings? Although as that weekend will be very busy (week before Christmas and all that), will 23L/05R not open for this busy peroid at times when it wouldn't normally?

P.S. Loving the LED lighting on 23R/05L, looks really cool.

The runway direction is based on wind direction so if the wind changes whilst you are at the gate the runway will change if you are true aviation enthusiast you would know that. Is your next question going to be "are we having a white christmas this year?"

Bit harsh mate, if I'm being honest. All enthusiasts knowledge of our hobby varies as I am sure you are well aware. In this instance, may be we should try to help out, rather than put down.

Cheers
Site mod

As said on the NVR thread, i think if it were to happen it'd be on a 767

A380 Mark - I was simply asking if 23R/05L is the only runway operating on Sunday mornings? or if 23L/05R will also be open? And yes, I am a true aviation enthusiast and am fully aware that departures and arrivals take off and land respectively in the direction of the wind, I have known this from a very young age and have plenty of experience in this type of field as I work for Airbus (7 years and counting).

Single runway operation in the winter tends to be after about 10.00 Sat until 16.00 Sun

Runway 2 will not be open for any additional hours over the holiday period, in fact the opposite is more likely to be true. AFAIK MA have not made a decision regarding reduced R2 hours between Xmas and NY but they probably will soon.
The other issue would be snow/ice as R2 is not normally treated and has been closed for several days after snowfall in the past.
Regarding your flights they will probably be on an Airbus

Happy hols.

"The runway direction is based on wind direction so if the wind changes whilst you are at the gate the runway will change if you are true aviation enthusiast you would know that. Is your next question going to be "are we having a white christmas this year?"

How condescending can you get.

Might as well dig it up grass it over. What a total waste of money it has turned out to be. An almost disused white elephant of a runway with a collection of ramshackled and outmoded terminals.

It leaves MAN well placed to press ahead with expansion, certainly when we are out of the grip of a global financial crisis. How many airport do we hear of that are crying out for new services and expansion but cant because of capacity limitations? Should 'Airline X' want to start a whole host of new services from MAN, it could....tomorrow.

Yes, in hindsight.......

Planning started mid 90s, construction started 1997, completed in Feb 2001 and then the whole world stated misbehaving with extreme terrorism, volcanoes, economic meltdown, George Osborne, etc. Naughty world, wrecking our plans for a fully utilised 2nd runway!

If terminal/stand capacity was a match for the runways I could believe it. MAG are obviously not envisaging any serious increase in movements/passenger numbers otherwise the diggers would be in now extending and renewing terminals. Meanwhile Gatwick is handling around 70% more passengers with a single runway



It wouldn't be so irksome if they used it more now. They seem to accept significant delays to traffic rather than provide the resources to fully utilise the facility even within the planning confines set down by local authorities

Cost! They have to have another shift of controllers and the same with fire crews, ops etc etc which at quiet periods are not warrented, as soon as traffic recovers to the movement figures that we were handling prior to 2001 extra hours will be factored in plus there are certain hours where it was agreed that
it will be single runway operations to keep the residents of Mobberley happy.
The airport have plenty of plans for extra parking which does not take that long to build and remember
the busier the airport the less aircraft are sitting round doing nothing and therefore releasing stands

Yes it would cost more to have the robustness that two (fully operational and fully equipped) runways provide. There would be less queuing for departure and fewer holding delays. It would also cost more to provide larger terminals with fewer shops and more space for immigration facilities and security. Passengers would breeze through the airport admiring its elegance. Sadly not. The councillors prefer their 'arms length plc' to always practice the art of getting a quart out of a pint pot rather than providing a truly world class facility for the region. You say the airport have plenty of plans for extra parking - that sounds like remote stands and bussing to me. More penny pinching.

Hi all

Could someone let me know what terminal The Air Blue A340 will arrive and depart at, will the upgrade cause it to change terminals?

Thanks, Jamlidd.