Airport boss hits back at 'UK's worst' vote

Chris Woodroofe, managing director of Manchester Airport, said the report ranking it as the worst in the UK, did not represent the real picture

The managing director of Manchester Airport has said criticisms of its facilities are unfair and defended plans to increase its capacity.

The airport, which caters to 30 million passengers a year, hopes to double that figure by 2050 and has invested £1.3bn into its infrastructure in recent years.

However, it was voted the UK's worst airport by Which? for the third year running, in a report based on customer surveys.

Chris Woodroofe told BBC North West Tonight that the consumer magazine's report did not "properly represent" what goes on at the airport.

"80% of our passengers have said you have a good, very good or excellent experience at Manchester Airport," he said.

He said 98% of passengers in August queued for less than 15 minutes to get into security, with 75% queuing for less than five minutes.

Mr Woodroofe was asked about negative comparisons with other regional airports, such as Liverpool John Lennon Airport which ranked highest overall in the Which? report.

Manchester Airport aims to expand its passenger base from 30 million per year to 60 million by 2050

He said: "I don't think you should compare a small airport that caters to a small group of destinations with Manchester Airport.

"This is the airport to travel from outside of London with 200 destinations you can fly to direct."

Mr Woodroofe said 29 airlines were in the process of moving into the newly redesigned and refurbished Terminal 2, which serves 70% of Manchester's passengers.

Benefits will include new security infrastructure which will mean passengers do not have to remove items like laptops from their bags, he said.

Net-zero plan

Once that process has been completed, Mr Woodroofe said Manchester Airport would not "pause for breath" before starting improvement work on Terminal 3.

Pressed on whether expansion of the airport was defensible due to environmental concerns, Mr Woodroofe said new technology meant a net-zero aviation industry by 2050 was "absolutely doable".

On the ground, he said Manchester Airport was on track to become net-zero by 2038, while sustainable aircraft fuel was making flying less of an environmental problem.

Mr Woodroofe said: "Every aircraft flying in and out of Manchester Airport today could take half of its fuel as sustainable aviation fuel.

"New aircraft coming off the production lines can take 100% of their fuel as sustainable aviation fuel, and what that will do is bridge the gap in technology to 2040, by which time we expect to see hydrogen aircraft flying."