Manchester Airport prepares for safe return of passengers

Manchester Airport (MAN) is advising passengers of a range of new safety measures following the resumption of flights to a range of destinations from 22 June 2020 and the scheduled re-opening of the airport’s Terminal 3 on 1 July 2020.

The UK’s third largest gateway has been carrying out a trial of measures for a numbers of weeks, ahead of official UK government guidance being confirmed in mid-June 2020.

Following the government-approved guidance, the airport has updated its advice to passengers so that they know how to prepare for their journeys and what to expect when they arrive at the airport. The security and wellbeing of all of Manchester Airport’s passengers and staff remains its number one priority, which is why it has introduced a range of safety measures to allow people to travel with confidence.

These include wearing face coverings, enhanced cleaning, bookable security slots and temperature checks, among other things. Through a mix of graphics, posters, animations and social media content, the airport has summarised these into handy hints for passengers to easily digest:

• Don’t travel to the airport if you are displaying symptoms of COVID-19 or someone in your household is self-isolating
• Check the latest government advice regarding travel to your destination, any requirements for returning passengers, such as quarantine, and check the status of your flight with your airline
• Prepare for your journey by considering what you might need every step of the way. Do you need to leave extra time to get to the airport? Do you have the personal protective equipment (PPE) you need to travel on public transport? Could you make your airport experience easier by booking a slot to pass through security?
• Protect others by only entering the terminal if you are a travelling passenger or working at the airport. This will help us with everything we are doing to keep customers and colleagues safe, particularly enabling others to maintain a safe distance between each other wherever possible
• Keep your distance from others while in the terminal. Social distancing won’t always be possible in an airport and there are many other measures to keep you safe. However, it is important you keep a respectful distance from other airport users wherever you can
• Cover your face at all times across the airport campus. In line with UK government guidance, and following a trial of various measures at Manchester Airport, all colleagues and customers are asked to wear face coverings within the terminal, on airport buses and throughout the campus. Customers should bring their own face covering
• Wash your hands regularly. The most effective way to prevent the spread of COVID-19 is hand-washing with soap and water, but extra hand sanitiser will be available throughout the airport
• Be reassured by the other steps we are taking across the airport to keep you safe. We are cleaning all surfaces on a rolling basis; trialling UV cleaning technology on escalator handrails and installing protective screens in busy customer areas, among other measures 
• Help us by supporting the trials we are conducting into other potential safety measures at the airport. This includes the trialling of temperature testing equipment at the entrance to security.

Brad Miller, Chief Operating Officer at Manchester Airport, said: “As we see the return of more airlines and destinations for our passengers to fly to, it becomes even more important to ensure our passengers feel safe and have the latest information to hand before they travel. We’ve been trialling a lot of safety measures for the last month to ensure that they are appropriate and firmly in place ahead of airlines ramping up their operations. We are confident we have the right mix of things in place to facilitate safe travel and allow passengers to fly with confidence.”

He continued: “As well as having all our safety measures in place, we also ask that all passengers play their part in keeping themselves and others secure. This includes coming to the airport in a face covering and keeping a sensible distance from others when possible across the airport campus. I’d like to thank all our passengers for continuing to abide by the measures in place during these uncertain times, and also thank all our staff who have gone above and beyond to ensure safe travel for all.”