Travel agents demand probe into airport road flood

A section of the A555 Manchester Airport relief road in Handforth, with cars submerged by the flood waters

Travel agents have demanded an investigation into why the main road into an airport flooded so badly that cars were completely submerged.

The New Year's Day deluge meant Manchester Airport was unreachable by the A555.

The North West chair of the association for travel agents ABTA said some of their customers were having to "go out of their way" to get to the airport and that an inquiry into the 2018-built road was needed.

Stockport Council and Cheshire East Council said it and others responsible for the A555 were working on how to reduce the flooding risk.

Firefighters rescue a man from his car trapped in flood water on the A555 near Bramhall in Stockport

The A555, which links the A6 near Hazel Grove to the M56 near the airport, was completed in 2018 and has repeatedly flooded during heavy rainfall.

Richard Slater, ABTA's regional chairman, said: "The flooding has caused considerable disruption to local traffic and raised serious concerns about the design and quality of these roads.

"It is unacceptable that passengers, relying on these routes to reach the airport, are encountering such challenges so soon after the roads were completed.

"This situation demands a comprehensive review of the planning, design, and construction processes to ensure that the necessary measures are taken to resolve the issue and avoid similar problems in the future.

A major incident was declared after torrential rain left huge areas of Greater Manchester, Lancashire and Cheshire flooded on New Year's Day

Becky Hall, owner of Plane Sailing travel agency, said some of her customers had requested to fly from Liverpool or East Midlands airports to avoid using the A555.

"I would estimate around 95% of our customers would travel using the A555 to get to Manchester Airport as their main route," Ms Hall said.

"The closures have been an absolute nightmare. It's a main thoroughfare and it's nearly doubling most journeys."

While sections of the road were able to re-open after the New Year's Day flood waters receded, the road closed again after last weekend's snow melted.

Apology

Stockport Council, Cheshire East and Manchester City Council (MCC) are all involved in managing the road.

MCC said most of the road was outside the Manchester boundary.

Stockport Council said on Wednesday that the section of the road from Bramhall junction to Styal Road would remain closed ahead of an anticipated freeze.

A spokesman said: "The disruption to journeys and the knock-on effects it has had are not lost on us and we apologise for any inconvenience caused.

"Our priority is always the safety of drivers and passengers, and while we know these decisions are disruptive, they are made with safety at the forefront."

Cheshire East Council said the A555's drainage systems are still recovering from storms which caused flooding in December and the problems are "not straightforward to resolve".

"They require co-operation from river authorities, utility companies and neighbouring councils to improve the wider network of waterways," a council spokesperson said.