Smart Traveller

Manchester Airport is situated in Ringway, in the City of Manchester, in the North West of England. It’s the busiest airport outside of London and acts as a gateway to the north of the country.The airport has two runways, three passenger terminals and a freight terminal, and is used for both domestic and international flights. Many international airlines operate flights to Manchester and you can fly to a wide range of destinations from the airport.

Each terminal has shops, cafes and other food outlets, together with airport lounges, baby changing facilities, wireless hot-spots and internet kiosks. Terminals 2 and 3 also have multi-faith prayer rooms.

If you are departing from Manchester and want to leave your car at the airport, you’ll find two long-stay car parks there, one of which serves Terminals 1 and 3 and one of which serves Terminal 2. There are also two short-stay car parks at the airport.

If you are arriving at Manchester Airport, you can book a hire car and pick it up when you land. The airport also has its own integrated transport hub, known as The Station, and you can catch a train or bus to the centre of Manchester or to another destination from here.

The Manchester Airport complex includes a hotel, the Radisson Blu Hotel Manchester Airport, which is situated between Terminal 1 and Terminal 2. It has 360 rooms, including standard rooms, business class rooms and suites, and also has a restaurant, a brasserie and a bar. Other facilities at the Radisson Blu Hotel Manchester Airport include a beauty lounge and a health club with an indoor swimming pool.

The complex also includes Manchester Airport’s Aviation Viewing Park, which features three viewing mounds from which you can watch the planes take off and land, and a collection of four historic planes: the front section of a Monarch Airlines DC-10; a restored BEA Hawker Siddeley Trident 3B; the Avro RJX; and Concorde G-BOAC (also known as Alpha Charlie), the second plane in the British Airways’ supersonic Concorde fleet. The Aviation Viewing Park also has an aviation shop and a restaurant.

Manchester Airport is only about 20 minutes’ drive from the centre of Manchester.

Abu Dhabi International Airport is 32km from the centre of Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates. Abu Dhabi is an important business centre as well as being a popular tourist destination, and more than 9 million people passed through the airport in 2008. The number of people using Abu Dhabi International Airport is likely to rise again this year, thanks to the new Yas Marina Circuit, on Yas Island, near Abu Dhabi. The first Formula 1 Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix will be held at the Yas Marina Circuit on 1 November 2009.

The airport has two runways and three terminals. Terminal 3 was opened in January 2009 and is used by Etihad Airways. Work has also begun on another passenger terminal as part of the airport’s expansion programme, in order to cater for the increasing numbers of passengers taking flights to Abu Dhabi.

There is a 40 room airport hotel at Terminal 1, which includes a fitness centre and a business centre, both of which can be used by passengers who aren’t staying at the hotel. There are a number of passenger lounges at the airport and there are ATMs and free internet access points throughout the airport.

You can catch a bus from outside of Terminals 1 and 2 to get to the city of Abu Dhabi, or take a taxi. There are also a number of car rental firms with desks at the airport.

Faro Airport is situated about 4km to the west of the city of Faro, in Portugal, and is the main airport for travellers heading for the Algarve. More than 25 airlines fly to Faro Airport from destinations throughout Europe and a number of airlines operate flights from UK airports to Faro.

The airport has one runway and one terminal, and the arrivals and departures halls are situated on the same floor of the terminal building. The Faro Airport car hire desks are located in the arrivals hall, together with several coffee shops and a tourist information desk. There are also a number of shops and food outlets, including a duty-free shop, in the departures hall.

There are no hotels at Faro Airport, but you will find a number of hotels to choose from in Faro itself, and it will only take you about 20 minutes to drive from Faro Airport to Faro if you hire a car. There are buses that operate from Faro Airport and there is also a taxi rank outside of the terminal, but there is no rail link from the airport.