Manchester Airport is reviewing its traffic flow systems after taxi drivers spoke out about 'horrific' congestion in September, which resulted in lengthy delays when picking up passengers.
Taxi and private hire firms took to social media to complain about the issue, with some stating they faced waits of up to 30 minutes to get into the car park. Drivers described the situation as 'chaos' and 'horrific'.
Drivers voice frustration
Wigan-based airport travel firm A1 Travel wrote on their Facebook page on September 23: “At busy periods we can experience queues getting into the drop off zones, but the real issue is the 'express' pick up zone.
“When it's busy it's horrific just trying to get to it, let alone finding a space and your customers. Quite often it takes us 20-30 minutes just to get to the terminal!
“We totally understand that once you have your luggage you just want to get home and don't want to be stood around waiting for your taxi, and as always we will try our utmost to be there promptly for you. This is obviously totally out of our control but to help us to get to you quicker please let your driver know the minute you've collected your luggage so we can start making our way around to you.”
'International disgrace' claim
Huddersfield-based taxi firm A2B Travel wrote on their Facebook page on September 21: “Manchester Airport you are an international disgrace. It’s embarrassing having to apologise to all customers for your incompetence! This is third world country stuff!
“Every day occurrence now, 30min+ to get in the pick up car park. It’s absolutely despicable and unheard of anywhere else in the world! Complete and utter chaos. How is this allowed and tolerated in this day and age at the 3rd biggest airport in the UK?”
Airport response
Although the peak summer travel period is over, September is still a busy travel month for the airport as people make the most of deals outside of term time. The fact that there are fewer families on the road and more couples or solo travellers results in an increase of vehicles on the roads surrounding the airport, combined with term-time commuting traffic.
Responding to the issue, a Manchester Airport spokesperson said: "Over the peak summer months we saw the airport road network perform well despite record passenger numbers.
"In early September we saw some traffic issues caused by a range of factors including increased local traffic and lower passenger-to-vehicle ratios caused by greater numbers of couples and solo-travellers arriving in cars compared to the summer months. These issues have now subsided and traffic is flowing as normal.
"While the issues were acute, we deployed extra traffic marshals to help keep things moving and they remain in place. We are also working with Transport for Greater Manchester to change the timing of traffic lights in the area. In the longer term, we are carrying out an extensive review of the system to identify ways of mitigating these issues in future."
