Is Manchester Airport really that bad?

Dear readers — this morning’s fog and ominous chill seemed to confirm that summer is really over. Thankfully our local weatherman is promising a dry, clear week ahead. But there’s less of a sunny outlook for Manchester Airport, which has recently been voted the worst in the country for a painful third time running. However, its leadership is hitting back, calling the rating unfair. That’s today’s big story. There’s also news on HS2 (or its possible replacement), long reads on the Munich air disaster and a crammed to-do list.

Over the weekend, Sophie Atkinson delved into the crisis at the Carlton Club, the 111-year-old social club that was served an eviction notice last month. At first glance, this might sound like the usual: profiteering landlord kicks out a much-loved institution so they can develop a skyscraper, or something. In fact, this story is much more complex — so complex that it happens the Carlton Club is somewhat evicting itself. “This is a balanced and well written article,” commented one member. “It explains the situation well. It highlights the difficulty between old and new communities and these are never easily resolved.” You can read that below. 

In fact, you ought to read it, because this week we’re following up on that piece with more revelations about the Carlton Club’s battle to survive. Plus, keeping with the theme of local institutions and their myriad inner conflicts, we’re also publishing a piece about the Royal Exchange Theatre’s near-cancellation of A Midsummer Night’s Dream last Wednesday, and the creative tension that has seen the play’s run cancelled completely. Please get in touch with Mollie if you know any more about these stories.

If you want to read those stories, take out a paid subscription. Not only will you be getting the inside scoop on Manchester’s most important institutions; you’ll also be supporting great local journalism and helping us do more of this work.

From today’s sponsor: Every week, when we recommend the best reads in this newsletter, we link to the Financial Times. Why? Because its writers produce some of the richest journalism in the country. Take, for instance, their award-winning long read following a school in Oldham — an eye-opening account of the realities of state education. Now, for a limited time only, you can get 50% off an annual digital subscription to the FT. That’s just £4.40 per week for peerless reporting on politics, culture, business, and international affairs. Click here to claim the offer before it’s gone. Thanks to the FT for sponsoring today’s edition. 

🌤️ This week’s weather

Our local weatherman Martin Miles says there are no signs of a big heatwave, but we can enjoy lots of lovely weather this week, with plenty of sunshine to warm us up before autumn kicks in.

Tuesday ☀️ A beautiful day with long spells of sunshine and light winds. 21°C.

Wednesday ☀️ Another dry and warm day with lots of sunshine. A little breezy later. 21°C. 

Thursday 🌤️ Dry with sunny spells and a little patchy cloud coverage. Breezy in the afternoon. 21°C.

Friday 🌤️ Breezy with a mix of patchy clouds and sunny spells with the slight risk of a shower later. 20°C.

Weekend ⛅️ Remaining mostly dry with pleasant temperatures, although it will be breezy at times.

You can find the latest forecast at Manchester Weather on Facebook — daily forecasts are published at 6.15am.

The big story: Is Manchester Airport really the worst?

Top line: Last week, Manchester Airport was rated the worst airport in the country for the third year running by Which?, the consumer surveyor. Now, the airport’s leadership is hitting back, questioning the report’s methodology while pointing out that it is in the midst of a huge expansion and upgrade.

Context: It has been a difficult few years for the airport. Back in 2022, we reported on long queues and dysfunction mostly thanks to the airport struggling to recruit staff after the pandemic. Chronic delays and cancellations saw the airport's reputation implode, and it’s come under heavy scrutiny ever since. 

• In June, a power cut shut down the airport’s two busiest terminals and led to the cancellation of around 80 flights.

Details: Which? surveyed its 5,000 members on issues like seating, toilets, shops and security queues. Manchester fell down on its infrastructure, with moving walkways that haven’t worked since 2021. But key complaints related to queues. “Many of those surveyed who were reliant on Manchester airport for its range of international connections reported unhappy experiences,” Which? found.

The timing isn’t great. A few months from now the airport will open a private terminal, the first in the country, called Aether. This isn’t ideal for optics, seeing that using the private terminal will cost travellers an extra £90 on top of their flight prices, or up to an eye-watering £170 if you’re checking in bags and want the terminal’s dining experience (put together by The French’s Adam Reid).

But is the airport really that bad? Just a few months ago, in a separate poll by YouGov, Manchester came out as the fourth most popular airport (although its approval rating was still only 36%). Chris Woodroofe, managing director of the airport, said the Which? report was misrepresentative, telling BBC North West tonight that "80% of our passengers have said you have a good, very good or excellent experience at Manchester Airport," according to the airport’s own research. 

• Liverpool John Lennon Airport was ranked best in the country; Woodroofe said that wasn’t comparing like for like. Manchester offers direct flights to 200 destinations, compared to Liverpool’s 60.

In August — the airport’s busiest month ever, with 3.36 million passengers passing through — it took 98% of them less than 15 minutes to get to security.

The airport has invested £1.3bn into its infrastructure in recent years, just now finishing a refurbishment of Terminal 2, which serves the vast majority of its passengers. Once airlines have moved into the new terminal, Woodroofe says the airport won’t “pause for breath” before starting work on Terminal 3.

Bottom line: An airport spokesperson said that Manchester Airport has been in conversation with Which? for “some time” about the metrics and samplings used in its reports. It brings the subjectivity of passenger experience into question, and whether these kinds of reports are useful in general. 

Your Mill briefing

🚝 Andy Burnham and West Midlands mayor Richard Parker unveiled a plan to replace the HS2 leg connecting Birmingham and Manchester, which was originally scrapped by Rishi Sunak last year. Without it, “travel demand on the London-Manchester corridor will exceed the maximum capacity of the line within the next decade”, according to the report commissioned by the mayors. It’s expected to be 15 minutes slower than HS2 would have been (from London to Manchester), but also cost 25-40% less. Whether the line will go ahead depends on a review of capital spending by the government ahead of the budget on 30 October. Burnham called for an “early decision to end the uncertainty”.

👩‍⚖️The hearing into Manchester City’s alleged breaches of the Premier League’s financial rules begins today. The club is facing 115 charges for breaches between 2009 and 2018. The Premier League said City didn’t provide “accurate financial information that gives a true and fair view of the club’s financial position”. Since investigations began, City has denied the allegations, saying its case is backed by a "comprehensive body of irrefutable evidence".

💉 More than 75% of a sample of prisoners at HMP Hindley, in Wigan, tested positive for drugs. That’s a higher proportion than any other prison in England and Wales. The prison watchdog said the prevalence of drugs in the prison was now a “critical threat” and that improvements couldn’t be made without investment into security. 

Home of the week 

This two-bedroom period home sits within a row of terraces on a cobbled street in Heaton Mersey, near plenty of green spaces, wine bars and independent shops. £325,000.

Our favourite reads

Even if you beat me — The Dublin Review

In 2015, Sally Rooney documented her rise from an “extremely determined” but “nearly friendless” teenager to becoming the number one competitive debater on the continent of Europe after winning the European Championships in Manchester in 2013 — a victory that ultimately left her feeling ambivalent. “At the end of the year I accepted the volunteer job in Chennai, and rang in the New Year drinking white wine in a luxury hotel, surrounded by people who knew who I was. Some of them had probably watched YouTube videos of my speeches. As you might have guessed, I was miserable.”

The French rose from Manchester: in search of Proust’s forgotten muse — The Observer

French novelist Marcel Proust’s translations of the works of polymath John Ruskin were inspired and helped, in part, by a friendship with Marie Nordlinger, a student at the Manchester School of Art, who was known in their academic circles as his confidante and muse, and who he once described as his “French rose from Manchester”. She was 20 years old when they met, spoke multiple languages and although their friendship was said to be platonic, she once wrote that she found Proust’s features “striking” and “luminous”. The pair first met in Paris in 1896 and exchanged letters, visited art galleries together and took gondolas to see St Mark’s Basilica, until their friendship abruptly ended in 1908. When Nordlinger eventually married in 1911, Proust wrote an unflattering letter about her husband, “but he never posted it”.

The ghosts of the Munich air disaster — UnHerd

In Munichs, David Peace writes about football in the 1950s, “when the game was dominated by clubs in the industrial heartlands of northern England and the Midlands” and “when the English working class was held in high esteem”. In 1958, when a plane taking Manchester United home from a European match crashed after taking off from Munich airport, leaving 23 passengers dead, including eight players, “a stoical nation was broken”. Three months later, when Manchester United reached the FA Cup Final, “it wasn’t just the city behind them, it was a nation.”

Our to do list

Tuesday

📚 Garth Greenwell, author of Small Rain, an award-winning novel about becoming suddenly disabled, the dysfunctional healthcare system and how pain can shape your life, will be discussing his work at Blackwell’s on Oxford Road. £5.

🎨 Hybrid Futures is a new exhibition at Salford Museum and Art Gallery that explores how we can create more sustainable ways of living as climate change shapes our environment. More here.

Wednesday

🎤 Heard Storytelling, a live event with a carefully-curated line up of speakers who tell extraordinary stories from their lives, is back this autumn with a new event at Feel Good Club — get tickets here.

🎸 DIY Leeds band Eades, who have referenced David Byrne and Lou Reed as their influences for their post-punk, lo-fi sound, are performing at the Northern Quarter pub Gulliver’s. £8.

Thursday

🎶 In honour of what would have been Amy Winehouse’s 41st birthday, the Belgrave House Band is performing a selection of her classic soul tracks at the Blues Kitchen. Tickets here.

🎭 Gwenyth Goes Skiing is a theatrical production of the infamous skiing incident in 2016, when the Hollywood star and Goop founder Gwenyth Paltrow collided with a retired optometrist from Utah on the slopes. It’s showing at Hope Mill Theatre in Ancoats. Get tickets here.

Thanks to the FT for sponsoring today’s edition — get your discounted subscription now.