Manchester Airport’s Pier One opens

Manchester Airport is celebrating the completion of the first major phase of its £1bn transformation programme.

Passengers flying out of the UK’s third largest airport were welcomed onto a giant new pier, which connects to Terminal 2, for the first time.

The 216m pier – longer than Manchester’s Beetham Tower is tall – provides extensive panoramic views of the airfield and will be used by all airlines currently operating out of T2. The first flights to depart today were both operated by TUI Airways and went to Funchal, Madeira, and Naples, Italy.

To mark the launch, timelapse footage was released showing how the pier has been built from scratch in less than 18 months, along with drone footage captured before the building was opened to the public.