Airport History - Manchester Airport Car Parking from SkyParkSecure
History of Manchester Airport
Q. What do the Daily Mail, two princesses, sixty thousand parachutists and the Lancaster Bomber have in common?
A. They are all in the History of Manchester Airport!
The beginning…
Manchester Airport ’s history began in 1910 when a flimsy aeroplane touched down in a field in nearby Burnage. Louis Paulhan piled out of his Farman biplane to find a wildly cheering crowd, for he had won the £10,000 Daily Mail prize for defeating Frenchman Claude Grahame-White to become the first person to fly from London to Manchester (http://www.thosemagnificentmen.co.uk/manchester/).
During the 1910s several short-lived aerodromes popped up around Manchester to handle the growing demand for air travel.
The idea for Manchester Airport continued to take shape as the first scheduled passenger flight took off from a Manchester airfield, flying to Blackpool’s South Shore in 1919.
The 1920s…
Finally in 1926, Manchester bosses realised they would need an airport to compete with the world’s other big cities.
Work started on the first Manchester Airport in 1928 in Barton, five miles west of Manchester. Old Manchester Airport was the first city airfield to be licensed by the Air Ministry.
Another airfield was built for the city in Wythenshawe and opened as Wythenshawe Airport in 1929.
The 1930s…
Manchester Airport was completed in 1930 at Barton (http://www.comp-sci.demon.co.uk/Eccles/PhotoMapBa.html) . Manchester Airport’s original control tower and large hangar are still standing today. The airport’s first passenger flight took off in June.
The early days: Old Manchester Airport at Barton in the 1930s
Imperial Airways flew three times a week from Croydon and Birmingham to Manchester Airport and Liverpool.
But Barton had a serious problem. Manchester’s heavy rainfall soaked the runways and many flights were cancelled. In 1934 Manchester Airport bosses started planning a route from Holland to Manchester. But Royal Dutch Airlines would not fly to Manchester Airport while it remained at the waterlogged airfield.
So Manchester officials decided to build a brand new airport at Ringway, southwest of Manchester, where the aircraft manufacturer Fairey Aviation had set up a factory in 1934. In four years this small airfield there was transformed into the new Manchester Airport.
As war threatened Britain, the Air Ministry formed the No. 613 (City of Manchester) Auxiliary Air Force Squadron at the new Manchester Airport in 1938. The squadron became a regular unit of the RAF. The new Manchester Airport was officially opened on the 25th of June. In its first year, the new Manchester Airport handled nearly 8,000 passengers. Today this would barely fill a morning!
On the 1st September 1939, a lone passenger departed from Manchester Airport bound for Weston-Super-Mare, in the last commercial flight before World War II broke out.
The 1940s…
Manchester Airport was a military base during the war. Three new runways and ten hangars were added to Manchester Airport. More than half a million troops trained at Manchester Airport as glider pilots and parachutists. Some of the most famous military aircraft of the conflict were manufactured at Manchester Airport by A. V. Roe and Fairey.
The prototype of the Lancaster Bomber (http://www.raf.mod.uk/bombercommand/aircraft/lancaster.html) made its first flight in Manchester.
Ironically, the Lancaster was designed to replace the failed Manchester Bomber (http://www.ww2guide.com/britishb.shtml#mchester). Experts believe the Lancaster was the key to Britain’s triumph during the RAF night offensive over Germany.
Passenger flights resumed in 1946 when an Air France Dakota flew from Le Bourget to Manchester Airport. In 1947 nearly 35,000 passengers a year came through Manchester Airport.
In 1949 part of Manchester Airport’s old Parachute School was converted to handle the booming passenger numbers.
The 1950s…
Manchester Airport began 24-hour operations and handled 163,000 passengers in 1952, and in 1953 Belgian Airlines made the first flight from Manchester Airport to New York, which took more than twelve hours.
The millionth passenger departed from Manchester Airport in 1954.
The 1960s and 1970s…
HRH the Duke of Edinburgh cut the ribbon for Manchester Airport’s new £2.7 million terminal in 1962. For the first time anywhere in Europe, passengers could remain under cover until ready to board the aircraft.
This sign was placed at Parrs Wood, Manchester, to mark the opening of the new terminal in 1962, and it is still there!
(use image in History folder, not this one.)
Passenger traffic at Manchester Airport hit a million per year in 1963.
In 1969 the runway grew to 2,745 metres, which allowed aircraft to take off fully loaded from Manchester Airport and fly non-stop to North America. Manchester Airport could handle Boeing 747s by 1974, thanks to a new inter-continental pier with travellators, waiting lounges and air conditioning. Air bridges at Manchester Airport ( http://www.manchesteronline.co.uk/ewm/001ewm/034_rm/ ) connected passengers directly to the aircraft for the first time.
New and improved: Manchester Airport in 1971
By 1978 Manchester Airport had 15 airlines flying to 37 destinations in the UK, Europe and North America.
The 1980s…
The number of passengers flying through Manchester Airport topped half a million in just one month in 1980. Manchester Airport became an International Gateway handling long-haul international flights.
In 1981, th e runway was extended again to 3,048 metres, which attracted more long haul operators to Manchester Airport. HRH Princess Anne officially opened the runway extension in 1982.
The World Freight Terminal opened in 1986 and Manchester Airport PLC was formed. A year later a record one million passengers went through Manchester Airport in one month.
After Manchester Airport’s Golden Jubilee in 1988, HRH the Princess of Wales opened the Domestic Terminal, capable of taking two and a half million passengers a year.
Princess Diana opened Manchester Airport’s Domestic Terminal in 1988.
The 1990s…
In 1990 'Little Flyers' opens to provide childcare for Manchester Airport staff. Manchester Airport launched its 'Towards a Better Environment' programme to minimize any negative impact of the Airport on the community.
The Aviation Viewing Park (http://www.ringwayreports.co.uk/avpguide.htm) and Ringway Handling Services were opened at Manchester Airport in 1992. One year later Terminal 2 was opened by HRH the Duke of Edinburgh, which doubled Manchester Airport's terminal capacity to 20 million passengers a year. Manchester Airport’s rail station was opened in 1993. Two years later Manchester Airport’s new £27 million British Airways hangar was finished.
The southern part of Manchester Airport's rail link opened with its first service to Crewe in 1996, and the Airport’s first budget hotel, Holiday Inn Garden Court, also opened. In 1998 the dedicated terminal was opened for British Airways and Manchester Airport’s five-star Radisson SAS hotel was launched.
Into The 21 st century
In 2000 work started on a £60 million public transport link and the government approved a £289 million Metrolink extension at Manchester Airport.
A year later Manchester Airport became the second largest airport operator in the UK.
Another international terminal and direct rail and motorway links have made Manchester Airport accessible to a wider area.
Manchester Airport continues to benefit the local economy. The local government still runs Manchester Airport.
Manchester Airport bustles today as one of the world’s premier airports , handling millions of passengers from all over the world .
Manchester Airport today: one of the most modern airports in the world
