We aim to bring you all the lastest news on Manchester Airport, and hope you find these snippets interesting. By the way, please don't forget to book your Manchester Airport Car parking with us ( little bit of advertising, hope you forgive us)

Passengers barred at Manchester Airport                                     March 6 2010

Two women, one a Muslim, have become the first people to be barred from boarding a flight because they refused to go through a full-body airport scanner.

Manchester Airport confirmed today that the women, who were booked to fly to Islamabad with Pakistan International Airlines, were told they could not get on the plane after they refused to be scanned for medical and religious reasons.The women had been selected at random, said the airport.The Muslim woman decided to forfeit her ticket and left her luggage at the airport. Her companion also left the airport saying she did not go through the scanner on medical grounds because she had an infection.

Story from the Guardian.co.uk.

Security must be paramount, that's our view at Manchester Airport Car Parking.

Private Jets booming at Manchester Airport                                    February 27 2010

Private jet travel is booming at Manchester Airport as company bosses increasingly focus on doing business in Europe, according to operator NetJets.

NetJets Europe, which is backed by the Berkshire Hathaway group owned by American billionaire Warren Buffett, said customer numbers in January were more than double the level seen in the same month a year ago, making Manchester its busiest British base outside London.

The most popular destinations from Manchester are London, Nice, Rotterdam, Paris and Sion in Switzerland.

Executive vice-president Emily Williams said: “In today’s harsh economic times, businesses are working extremely hard to maintain customer relationships and push through deals across Europe.

“We are finding more and more businesses recognise the importance of doing business face-to-face.”

NetJets said bosses were increasingly choosing private air travel because it enables them to cut journey times and be more productive, as they avoid airport queues and long gaps between checking in and departing, as well as travelling at their convenience.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission, say that scanners at Manchester Airport may be breaking discrimination law, and  breaching passengers' rights to privacy. The Commission has now written a letter to Transport Secretary Lord Adonis notifying him .

Here at Manchester Airport Car Parking, we believe passenger security takes first priority.

A runway at Manchester Airport was closed again yesterday due to a flurry of snow and around 1,000 passengers were diverted to the travel hub at Liverpool.

Planes arriving from Heathrow Airport, Edinburgh Airport, Southampton Airport and destinations such as Helsinki, Paris, Fuerteventura and Zurich were forced to land at Liverpool Airport instead of Manchester Airport

It took workers at the travel hub approximately an hour and a half to clear the snow from the runway before it could be reopened.
"In Liverpool we had some snow, but nothing like what they had over in Manchester, so we've not been affected by it at all, we've just been extremely busy," said a spokesperson from Liverpool Airport.

Manchester Airport urged passengers to check with their airline before arriving at the travel hub, although it expected flights to be landing and departing as normal.

Most people would regard hanging around for hours in an airport as something to be avoided.But an academic has chosen to spend a year in one - financed by the taxpayer.

Anthropologist Dr Damian O'Doherty, 42, is living for up to 18 hours a day for the next 12 months in terminals and departure lounges, observing passengers' and workers' habits. The exercise is expected to cost around £40,000.

Dr O'Doherty has already been nicknamed Terminal Man, in reference to the 2004 film in which Tom Hanks plays a man who is forced to live at an airport when refused entry into America.

The film is believed to be based on the plight of Iranian Mehran Karimi Nas who lived in Charles de Gaulle Airport for 18 years.

The Government-funded research will take place at Manchester Airport and is intended to investigate how airports affect people, with the aim of making them better places to visit or work.

But Manchester University's project, paid for by Lord Mandelson's Department of Business, Innovation and Skills, has been attacked as money down the drain.

Matthew Elliott, chief executive of the Taxpayers' Alliance, is extremely unhappy, and said: 'This is a complete waste of money and shows just how out of touch the Government is with the views of taxpayers.

'If the department wanted to find out how people interact in an airport, all they needed to do was to rent the Tom Hanks film. Surely that would be better than squandering tens of thousands of pounds getting someone to research it for a year.'

Here at Manchester Airport Car Parking, we agree with Mr Elliott. A very silly idea, and a total waste of taxpayers money.

Manchester Airport has launched a TV ad campaign for its car parking facililites.

Andrew Harrison, commercial director at Manchester, said the airport was "very excited" to be branching out into the world of television advertising.He added: 'The purpose of the adverts is to highlight to passengers how cheap and easy it is to get safe and secure parking at Manchester airport.

An application to build a 15 metre wind turbine has been rejected, on the grounds that it was in a location and of a height that poses an ‘unacceptable risk to the safe operation of aircraft and air traffic control at Manchester Airport’.

Officers also flagged up concerns about there being bats within the grounds and that they could be affected.

 The applicant said said he is willing to comply with the issues by lowering the mast by two-and-a-half metres to comply with the requirements of Manchester Airport.

Travellers flying across the Atlantic to the US have been advised that there should not be any delays due to extra security from Manchester Airport, although passengers travelling to the USA are advised that they may face enhanced search regimes at boarding gates.

Those travelling from Manchester Airport should ensure they are familiar with what they can and can not take onboard an aircraft as hand luggage. Items that are restricted from both hold baggage and hand luggage should also be checked.Manchester Airport no longer has a restriction of one hand luggage item per person, however, some other travel hubs in the UK still have this rule in place.

ALMOST all passengers say they are willing to use Manchester Airport’s new ‘naked image’ scanners, in the wake of last week’s failed bid to blow up a transatlantic flight.

An airport study found 75 per cent agreed to go through the full-body scanner in the run-up to Christmas.

But a second study after the alleged attack on the Detroit-bound flight found that figure had gone up to 92pc.

Manchester Airport introduced the £80,000 RapiScan machine six weeks ago.

Its 12-month trial will let staff spot any hidden explosives or weapons without passengers having to undress.

Home Secretary Alan Johnson confirmed this week he is considering putting the scanners in all airports following last week’s alleged attempt to blow up a transatlantic flight.

Nigerian Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab is accused of trying to bring down a Detroit-bound flight. The incident has raised fresh questions over airport security around the world.

Some experts believe the type of explosive allegedly concealed under Mr Abdulmutallab’s clothing would have been detected by the full body scanner being piloted at Manchester.

Concerns were raised that the scanner produced invasive images, with the technology able to show up breast enlargements, false limbs and piercings. Under-18s are not being invited to use the scanner after child protection experts warned that security workers risked breaking the law by creating indecent images of children.

Hundreds of people were stranded overnight at Manchester Airport when flights were suspended due to heavy snowfall.

Planes were grounded and incoming flights prevented from landing due to ice and snow on Sunday afternoon.

Staff worked to clear the backlog and apart from four cancelled flights, the airport is now operating normally.

An airport spokeswoman said many passengers had to stay in the terminals because hotels were booked up.

"The snow has caused some problems but the main issue has been with the ice. It is a huge site so it is taking time to clear and be made safe," she added.

Many flights were left circling until it was safe to land and some were diverted to airports nearby.

Blankets and food were handed out to passengers and retailers stayed open throughout the night, the airport spokeswoman said.

Peter Davies, 60, and wife, Lorraine, 58, from Stockton-on-Tees, were waiting to secure a standby ticket after the cancellation of their flight to New Jersey on Sunday.

The couple had Christmas presents for their two-year-old twin grandchildren who live in the US.

Mr Davies said: "We are very upset. It is a pretty trying time and it's disappointing but there's not much you can do about it.

"We visit a couple of times a year but obviously it's a special time around now and we've got the presents ready."

David Kind, 61, of Keighley, was in the Air France check-in queue at 0700 GMT when a passenger in front of him received a text message saying their flight to Dubai was cancelled.

He said: "No-one told us anything on the desk, we had to find out by someone's else phone as we stood waiting."

Airport officials have warned people to check with their operators in advance.

The cancelled flights were bound for Amsterdam and Paris.

A further 19 flights were cancelled, but passengers were being rebooked onto later services.

The backlog of 10 flights from Sunday has been cleared because the destination airports had reopened, an airport spokeswoman said.

About 27,000 people were due to depart on 215 flights.

"The airport would like to thank passengers for their patience and those staff who have worked hard to maintain the best possible operation during the unprecedented weather conditions," the airport spokeswoman said.

Many roads around Greater Manchester have also been affected by the treacherous weather.

The outside lane on the M60 is covered in snow and many of the minor roads are extremely icy.

The Snake Pass through the Peak district and the A58 Halifax Road through Littleborough are still closed due to the snow.

Some flights have resumed at Manchester Airport after they were suspended because of heavy snowfall.

Planes were grounded and incoming flights prevented from landing for about 90 minutes as engineers worked to clear runway one of snow and ice.

The closure caused delays, diversions and cancellations to several flights and passengers faced major disruption.

In addition, some US-bound flights have been cancelled because of the blizzards affecting the country's east coast.

Some passengers were stuck on planes after the decision to close runway one, while others waited for information inside the terminal buildings.

No food

Gary Whittaker boarded a Thomas Cook flight bound for Paphos at 1000 GMT - but was still sitting on the parked aircraft seven hours later.

Speaking from the plane, he told the BBC that no-one on board seemed to be able to offer them information - or any food.

"We've had no food and we've only had water, and we've had to pay for every chocolate or biscuit we've had... I think its disgraceful.

"They took some of the staff off and put new staff on but no-one is taking any responsibility for why we can't have any food."

Airport officials are monitoring the weather and if the snow continues they may have to assess the runway again.

"There will be some knock-on effects to some of the other aircraft that were due to leave this evening," said an airport spokesman.

"We have to allocate stands to aircraft, so as well as clearing the runway we've also got to clear what's called the apron and the area around the stands, so that aircraft can come in towards the terminals.

"We've had extra people in this weekend both out on the runway and in the terminals helping out, so while there are delays there are extra people who are in the airport trying to help.

"So passengers will have to bear with us to a certain extent.

"If you are travelling today I'd really encourage people to check with their operator for what the scheduled time of departure for their flight might be, and just keep an eye on the weather in case it worsens."

Earlier, airport staff spent about 90 minutes spraying anti-icing fluid across the runway to clear the surface amid heavy snow showers.

It was the second time they had been forced to clear the runway on Sunday.

A number of flights had also been diverted to Manchester from mainland European airports because of poor conditions there.

The Met Office said that "heavy and prolonged" snow showers would continue through the afternoon across Greater Manchester.

A £100m regeneration scheme will bring a new bus station and a major office development to a south Manchester suburb.

Wythenshawe will benefit from the transport boost under radical plans to breathe new life into the district.

And town hall bosses have struck a deal with Wythenshawe town centre owner St Modwen to open a new office, which will house up to 500 staff from Manchester council.

The authority has agreed to take 50,000 sq ft of office space in the Etrop Court building from the property developer and the complex will be home to workers from the children and adult services department and the Wythenshawe regeneration team from 2012.

The announcement is being hailed as a major boost for the region, with council chiefs hoping it will help to improve the economy and transform the district's image.

Sir Richard Leese, leader of Manchester council, said: “This is a big step forward for the regeneration of Wythenshawe town centre.

Investment

“We are working closely with our partner agencies to make it a better place for local people and to attract investment into the town.

“The approval of the new bus station location and council office will help us towards our goals.”

The new bus station will be located at Forum Square and will help to create a transport interchange with Metrolink, which is being extended to Manchester Airport through Wythenshawe.

It is expected that work will start on the facility in 2011 and will be completed by the following year.

The council office on Poundswick Lane will be flanked by two retail stores Netto and Wilkinson.

It is expected that the building work on the development will start in 2010 with the council planning to move in 2012.

Michelle Taylor, regional director at St Modwen, said: “The deal to bring up to 500 council employees into this development will have an instant and positive impact on Wythenshawe town centre, bringing more activity to the retailers and other surrounding businesses.”

In what it describes as a world first, Manchester Airport is to convert the old (and currently out of use) control tower in Terminal 1 to create an elevated 110sq m luxury bar. And the airport is seeking a partner to manage the new business.

The space is arranged over four levels, with Level 5 featuring the open-plan bar. There, passengers will have unobstructed views over the airfield. Access is from Level 2 – the main retail area in Departures - via a lift or a spiral staircase within the core of the building.

The Level 2 entrance area could be opened up to the concourse, said the airport, and could be used for merchandising to maximise passing trade. This area could also be used as a reception/concierge zone where guests could wait before travelling to the bar on Level 5.

Manchester Airport said the control tower would contain “an exciting space with unparalleled views,” and that it would be “comfortable, intimate and special”.

The company added: “Manchester Airport is committed to working together in partnership to create an innovative and remarkable destination for a special brand.” The bar aims to complement the recent £50 million upgrade of Terminal 1.

So passengers will be able to park their cars at our manchester airport car parking, check in, and have a nice drink.

bmibaby will be suspending services from Manchester Airport to Alicante and Malaga shortly. The last date of travel from Manchester to Malaga will be 14 November 2009 and to Alicante will be 15 November 2009. Any affected passengers are being contacted by the airline as soon as possible and will receive a full refund.

Passengers who still wish to travel to those destinations from Manchester Airport can use other services with Easyjet, Jet2.com, Thomson, Thomas Cook and Monarch to Malaga. Those who wish to travel to Alicante can use Easyjet, Thomas Cook, Jet2.com, Thomson and Monarch.

Low cost carrier Bmibaby said today it planned to make 54 pilots and 82 cabin crew redundant at Birmingham Airport, Manchester Airport  and Cardiff airport.

The airline said the restructuring programme will enable it to concentrate on core operations and activities and to adjust existing schedules and frequencies to maximise their potential. Up to 45 jobs are at risk at Manchester including 20 pilots, eight cabin managers and 17 cabin crew.

It follows revelations earlier today that the airline will end services from Manchester to Malaga and Alicante this month. It's unclear at this stage whether further routes will be cut from Manchester.

Bmibaby is reducing its fleet size by five aircraft in 2010 from the current 17. It said the move comes against a background of “the worst economic recession in recent times” and record losses in the aviation industry.

However part of the restructuring programme will create the capacity to add to the number of destinations it will serve next year from Manchester Aiports Group-owned East Midlands Airport.

The news is in sharp contrast to the announcement earlier this week that rivals Ryanair had posted an 80 per cent rise in pre-tax profits to E387m for the six months to September 2009.

Crawford Rix, managing director, Bmibaby, said: “Since the launch of Bmibaby we have established ourselves as a leading player in the low cost airline market. However the aviation industry is facing its toughest time ever – it is experiencing record losses and remedial action has to be taken. Bmibaby is no exception to this.

“We have to focus our efforts and activities on routes and services that we believe are the best fit for our business. We believe that having identified and by concentrating on the core business areas and reinforcing our efforts, we can ensure that Bmibaby continues to provide its customers with the best possible competitive fares as well as an attractive range of business and leisure products.”

As a result of the restructuring programme 10 pilot and 15 cabin crew positions will be created at East Midlands Airport. Another 22 management and support positions may go at Bmibaby's head office and at the airports. Bmibaby has today commenced discussions with staff and union representatives with a view to minimising job losses wherever possible.

From Manchester airport Bmibaby flies to Amsterdam, Barcelona, Belfast International, Bordeaux, Cork, Faro, Geneva, Ireland West Knock, Jersey, Lisbon, Lourdes, Newquay, Palma, Perpignan, Prague and Toulouse.

bmibaby will be suspending services from Manchester Airport to Alicante and Malaga shortly. The last date of travel from Manchester to Malaga will be 14 November 2009 and to Alicante will be 15 November 2009. Any affected passengers are being contacted by the airline as soon as possible and will receive a full refund.

Passengers who still wish to travel to those destinations from Manchester Airport can use other services with Easyjet, Jet2.com, Thomson, Thomas Cook and Monarch to Malaga. Those who wish to travel to Alicante can use Easyjet, Thomas Cook, Jet2.com, Thomson and Monarch.

Incident at Manchester Airport                                                      October 21 2009

Aer Arann has launched an investigation into an incident which happened at Manchester airport earlier today.

It happened shortly before midday, when the propeller of an aircraft, which had landed after a flight from Galway hit a docking guidance mirror when it was parking at the airport's Terminal 1.

The propeller was damaged and as a precaution the airport fire service was called to the scene.

There were 32 passengers and four crew on board at the time, but no-one was injured.

A replacement airplane is being sent from Dublin and Aer Arann engineers and customer service personnel are also en-route to Manchester.

Airport operations have not been affected by the incident.

 Manchester Airport will not be using their new scanning technology on passengers under 18 years of age. The new scanning technology, which is used to view hidden weapons that passengers could be carrying under their clothing, also shows a picture of the person’s body under their clothing. Thus, these new see-through security scanners have brought up new concerns for underage passengers.

These new full body scanners, which were just unveiled earlier this month at Manchester Airport, have now been banned from scanning underage kids. This is due to the fact that civil rights groups think that these scans could be breaching laws protecting children.

According to the Action of Rights for Children, the scanners could be breaking the Protection of Children Act of 1978. This is a law which makes it illegal to create an indecent image of a child. A spokesperson for the airline said that this was a grey area with the new scanners. Thus, until the law is clarified, no one under the age of 18 will be able to go through the new scanners. They will be faced with conventional security checks.

The spokesperson for the airline went on to add that they are not going to break the law in order to improve the security at Manchester Airport. If there is a problem with the scanners, then the airport will take a different position on the new technology. The airport was quick to point out that the images that are made by the scanner are destroyed right away.

 Jet2.com, is giving travellers ever more reasons to travel this winter period by offering a free bag and fast track through security when they  to Tel Aviv from Manchester Airport.

Holidaymakers, who book a flight to the popular Israeli city, departing between 3rd December 2009 and 11th March 2010, will be able to take a whopping 22kg bag absolutely free as well as being fast tracked through security.

Travellers visiting Tel Aviv for a winter break or indeed for the celebrations of Hanukkah during December, can fly from Manchester to Tel Aviv from as little as £99.99 one way including taxes.

To make the most of this exclusive offer, all travellers have to do is enter the promotional code – BAGTLV - when booking their return flight and the cost of a bag will be deducted from the lead passenger at checkout.

Manchester Airport passenger numbers fall                              October 11 2009

Manchester Airport's passenger traffic fell 9.4 per cent in September, according to newly released figures.
The airport carried 1.9m passengers in the month compared to 2.1m in 2008.
Domestic traffic fell 8.79 per cent, scheduled international was down 5.29 per cent, charter was down 13 per cent and private passenger numbers were down 88.9 per cent.
Passenger numbers for the 12 months to the end of September are down 11.5 per cent compared with the previous 12 months, while freight traffic measured in tonnes is down 32.8 per cent to 105,741 tonnes for the same period. Freight traffic fell 17.8 per cent in September compared to the same month last year.

A Manchester Airport spokesperson said: “In common with the industry, when compared to last year, September’s passengers numbers are down. In the current climate, this is a consequence of people being more careful with their money although the all-important annual summer holiday's still took place.

“We are seeing strong signs for next year with new routes announced by the likes of American Airlines, Jet2.com, bmibaby, DanubeWings and easyJet to name but a few. These give our passengers even more travel choices with, most importantly, prices to suit their needs."

Jet2.com leading airline at Manchester Airport                          October 7 2009

Jet2.com has established itself as Manchester Airport’s biggest scheduled leisure airline following the launch of a further four new routes Dubrovnik, Split, Reus (Costa Dorada) and Prague for summer 2010.

Jet2.com will now serve nine new destinations next year, taking the total routes from Manchester with Jet2.com up to 28.

Today’s announcement means that Jet2.com now offers low fare flights to more destinations than any other airline operating scheduled services out of Manchester Airport and is the only airline to offer flights to Reus (Costa Dorada) from Manchester.

Aircraft at the North West base will be increased to service the new routes with 140,000 extra seats for summer 2010, up 20% on this year, and a total 1,000,000 seats now available per year from Manchester with Jet2.com.

Philip Meeson, boss of Jet2.com, said: “At Jet2.com we are bucking the trend of other airlines by significantly increasing our services across our bases. Now as Manchester’s favourite and biggest scheduled leisure airline we are leading the pack, offering the most number of scheduled leisure destinations.

“Our continued investment will see us increase our fleet at Manchester quite significantly and create hundreds of new jobs both at the airport and within the tourism industry as a whole.

“Next summer will see us fly up to 140,000 extra passengers to fantastic destinations across Europe and northern Africa, ensuring that people living in and around the region have an unprecedented choice of holiday destination.

“We have carefully planned our schedule and flight times to suit our passenger’s needs, giving them the option to take short breaks or longer holidays of seven, ten or 14 days. We also pride ourselves in offering friendly flights times, ensuring that our passengers get the most out of their holiday.”

Andrew Cornish Manchester Airport Managing Director said: “Since starting operations from Manchester airport in 2005, Jet2.com has gone from strength to strength establishing the airline as a popular operator with both leisure and business passengers. These latest destinations are a great addition to their route network bringing greater choice for passengers next summer. We look forward to working with Jet2.com in making these services another success story for this popular airline.”

A drug smuggler tried to fight his way to freedom after traces of cocaine were found on his passport at Manchester Airport.

Mark Thornton, 46, fled across the arrivals hall at Terminal 2 and punched a customs officer in the face.He lashed out several times before being pinned down in front of stunned holidaymakers.Manchester Crown Court heard that Thornton and his wife Carmen Rodriguez-Angeles, 34, were stopped on their return on a flight from the Dominican Republic on the morning of July 8.

After Thornton had been examined, two condoms filled with cocaine were retrieved from his body.

His wife, who also had traces of cocaine on her passport, was also found to have condoms stuffed with the drug inside her body, Imran Shafi, prosecuting, said.

The pair, from Lancaster, were both jailed at Manchester Crown Court for importing the 138.5g haul, with a street value of £35,400.

THE decision of Manchester Airport to trial new full-body scanners which, essentially, create a naked picture of air travellers has been slammed by a West Midlands MEP.

Conservative Philip Bradbourn, said he was “outraged”, viewing the body-scanners as “wholly disproportionate to the threat” posed by terrorism.

The European Commission had previously made the decision to withdraw plans to implement the body-scanners in all UK airports by April, 2010.

The decision of Manchester Airport executives to run the trial was described as “baffling” by Mr Bradbourn, “given the precedent set by the European Commission”.

He added: “I am outraged that Manchester Airport executives are trialling technology that is, at best, Orwellian and, at worst, actually capable of breaching UK law when used on travellers under the age of 18, as creating an image of a minor is a criminal offence under Protection of Minors legislation.

“These body-scanners are an invasion of personal privacy and civil liberties which, when considered against the threat that the average passenger poses to security, are hugely disproportionate.

“I am writing to the chief executive of Manchester Airport because I want to know under what authority he has implemented this invasive trial, given that it was previously removed from the Aviation Security Directive by the European Commission.

“I also want to know if security officers at Manchester Airport are rightly informing air travellers of their right to opt out of a full body scan, since many of my constituents, especially from Stoke on Trent and the rest of north Staffordshire, regularly use Manchester Airport.

PASSENGER numbers at Manchester Airport dipped below two million last month ( September) as consumers continued to rein in their spending, figures showed today.

The number of travellers who passed through the terminals was 1.95m, down from 2.14m compared with the same month last year, a fall of 8.8 per cent.

Charter traffic saw the biggest drop, down 13 per cent from 852,757 to 741,813.

A spokesman said: “In common with the industry, when compared to last year, September’s passengers numbers are down.

“This is a consequence of people being more careful with their money although the all-important annual summer holidays still took place.

“We are seeing strong signs for next year with new routes announced by the likes of American Airlines, Jet2.com, bmibaby, easyjet and DanubeWings.

Ryanair is implementing its closure of routes from Manchester Airport as of October 1 2009.

Ryanair said it was closing the routes because Manchester had refused to cut its landing charges to reflect the lower fares being paid by passengers in the recession.

The airline said closures will directly result in the loss of 44 weekly Manchester flights, 600,000 passengers per year and up to 600 jobs at the airport.

Chief Executive of Manchester Airports Group, Geoff Muirhead, said he regretted the route closures, but also said the job losses had been "very much exaggerated" and expected to see very few jobs actually being lost.

"It's not something that we ideally would want to see. Our charges are low. Ryanair have taken a commercial decision and it was a place we couldn't go that they wanted to push us," he told the BBC.

"And I should be very, very, clear that there are still many low-cost operations out of Manchester."

Ryanair's spokesman Stephen McNamara said the firm had offered new routes, traffic and growth to Manchester and accused the airport's management of "preserving their high-cost base" rather than opting for growth.

"Ryanair continues to lower fares to encourage travel, but with passengers paying lower fares airports must lower their charges -- particularly high cost airports like Manchester, London Stansted and Dublin," McNamara said.

The airline said passengers affected by the changes would be contacted by email and either provided with a refund or the choice of flying to some destinations from alternative airports.

Ryanair said the nine routes from Manchester that will close or switch are those to Barcelona (Girona), Bremen, Brussels (Charleroi), Cagliari, Dusseldorf (Weeze), Frankfurt (Hahn), Marseille, Milan (Bergamo) and Shannon.

A MAJOR alert was sparked at Manchester Airport after a science lecturer wrongly packaged some corrosive chemicals in his luggage.

He was arrested on suspicion of endangering an aircraft following the gaffe and was quizzed by police for several hours. The scare began after airport workers reported a strong smell as the bag was being loaded into the plane's hold. Two baggage handlers were taken to Wythenshawe Hospital as a precaution after they came into contact with the chemicals.

It is believed the Nigerian lecturer was travelling to his home country to teach students. Police later searched his home in Cheetham Hill before releasing him on bail until January.

Hazardous

Forty firefighters and a hazardous materials specialist were called to Terminal Two as the KLM flight - carrying 121 passengers - was preparing to take off for Amsterdam.

Two firefighters wearing chemical protection suits and breathing kits removed the suspect substances along with some contaminated clothing.

Police escorted the 48-year-old off the jet for questioning.

A police spokeswoman said: "Police were called to Terminal Two at Manchester Airport to a report of a strong smell coming from a bag about to be loaded onto a plane.

"The bag was removed and found to contain two bottles of a chemical, which had leaked. The passenger was spoken to and has subsequently been arrested on suspicion of endangering an aircraft. He is currently in police custody."

It is thought it is legal to carry these particular chemicals in the hold of the aircraft, but the lecturer had not packaged them properly and they started to leak.

Search

Police later confirmed they were searching the house in Cheetham Hill.

The incident was not terror related.

Passengers had already started to board the Boeing 737 when fire crews and police were called. The flight was thought to have been about 15 minutes from take-off when the alert was sparked.

It then took off after an 80-minute delay.

Early tests by chemical experts suggest the bottles contained a corrosive substance, Ethylamine, which is not believed to be explosive.

A witness said: "The cabin crew became suspicious of a strong smell that was not relevant to anything connected with the aircraft. They immediately alerted the emergency services, who in turn carried out a thorough search of the plane."

A KLM spokeswoman said: "KLM flight 1074 was delayed following the discovery of a strong-smelling liquid which was leaking from hold baggage.

"The bag in question was removed from loading and the emergency services were called to investigate."

Andrew Cornish, thr Managing Director of Manchester Airport said "We are extremely proud to have secured such a highly acclaimed award which is a real tribute to the efforts of the 19,000 people who work at Manchester Airport,"