MANCHESTER Airport should not bask in any glory for its record number of passengers departing its runways in 2017.

It should hang its head in shame for the Third World conditions imposed on passengers arriving at Terminal 1. Disembarking into the open weather (inevitably raining) due to no piers, facing stair climbs both up and down as escalators are never working, queuing for up to an hour at the totally disorganised passport control are just a few of the problems facing arrival passengers.

It might have had record numbers in 2017, but Manchester was recently voted the 22nd worst airport in the UK out of 24 — way behind the likes of Leeds/Bradford Bristol and Southampton.

Airport standards should be judged not on number of passengers, but on quality of experience where, sadly, Manchester is decades behind the game.

Tony Hutchinson

Smithills