Manchester Airport
FOR years catching flights from Manchester Airport to major worldwide destinations was limited to say the least.
If you fancied whiling away your holidays in a far-flung resort it generally meant a long trek south to London's Heathrow or Gatwick airports.
Thankfully, this is generally no longer the case. Manchester Airport is the UK's third biggest airport, handling more than 20m passengers a year and adding new routes all the time.
So it is now possible to go in search of sun in places as far afield as Antigua and Abu Dhabi from an airport on your doorstep and ManchesterOnline's Travel section contains details of all the best holiday deals.
As well as the long haul carriers there are also a number of the so-called budget airlines flying all over Europe from Manchester including; Ryanair, EasyJet, Bmibaby and Jet2.
Originally called Ringway Airport and opened in 1938, now over 90 airlines are based at its three terminals flying to more than 180 destinations.
It is part of The Manchester Airports Group Plc (MAG), which is the second largest airport operator in the UK and also houses Nottingham, Bournemouth and Humberside airports.
The airport is the current holder of the Best Airport gong, awarded by the Travel Weekly Globe Awards and expansion plans were recently announced with the aim of attracting more than 50m passengers by 2030.
A railway station opened there in 1993 connecting it with the city centre and the rest of the country, plus is can also be reached via a number of regular bus services.
Find out more through ManchesterOnline's Public Transport section
Of course there is also plenty of car parking, on and off-site available too, click on ManchesterOnline's Airport Car Parking section for the best low cost deals.
