Major UK airport begins shutdown of terminal after half a century in ‘end of an era’

A MAJOR UK airport has officially closed part of a terminal after 60 years of operation.

Large sections of the departures and arrivals halls have shut, with only one airline remaining in the terminal.

Manchester Airport’s Terminal 1 has now closed to all passengers, except those travelling with Ryanair.

The terminal was opened by Prince Philip in 1962 and entered its final phase of closure last week.

Airport transformation

Meanwhile, Terminal 2 has undergone a 10-year, £1.3 billion transformation which has more than doubled its size.

After an extension to the terminal opened in 2021, the airport is now in the final stages of overhauling the original Terminal 2.

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In the meantime, Terminals 1 and 3 will operate as a temporary hybrid hub for Ryanair until the full closure of Terminal 1 in early 2026.

Airline passengers have described the Terminal closure as the “end of an era”.

Fond farewell

A spokesperson for the airport told the BBC staff have been “really touched by all the lovely comments and by people sharing their memories”.

“Since the 1960s, T1 has been the starting point for millions of journeys,” Manchester Airport said in an official post.

The airport, which ranks as the UK’s busiest outside of London, has become well-known for the unique chandeliers in Terminal 1.

These iconic Venetian glass chandeliers were removed in 2003 and were placed on display in various museums.

However, these iconic features will now be on display in Terminal 2, where they are being resurrected to form a new piece of art.

“Even though we love Terminal 1, we weren’t really prepared for just how many other people share our affection for it,” said an airport spokesperson.

“It may be the end of an era for Terminal 1 as we know it, but we wanted to take some time to really celebrate it because it’s truly a part of the history of the North and plays a key part in lots of people’s memories of international travel.”

The airport rep added that passengers will not need to worry about extra traffic in Terminal 2 as a result of the closure.

“There is absolutely nothing that anybody needs to worry about, we have invested in the terminal facility and the road network as well,” they said.

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