Manchester Airport’s Managing Director, Chris Woodroofe, says passengers will enjoy a “great experience” this summer and believes an exciting few years are ahead for the Northern gateway.

Speaking on the airport’s new podcast – launched this week – Chris reflected on his first full year in charge and pledged a series of key investments that will transform the passenger experience for a generation to come.

That includes the £440m next phase of Terminal 2’s transformation, due to be complete by 2025, and the introduction of new security scanners that mean passengers won’t need to remove liquids and gels from their hand luggage.

The first six episodes of the podcast, called Manchester: Your Airport, MAN, takes listeners behind the scenes at the airport and is a first-of-its-kind in the UK, and are available through Spotify, Amazon Music and Apple Podcasts among other platforms.

Over the course of the six episodes, presenter Tom Fordyce – host of The Joe Marler Show and former panelist on That Peter Crouch Podcast – brings listeners a series of exclusive insights, including;

• What happened when Jay-Z and Beyonce flew through Manchester Airport;
• What “sells” Manchester when globetrotting airport bosses try to win new routes to far flung destinations;
• Why Manchester is the best airport for plane spotting in the world;
• How a living, breathing scarecrow works for the airport to prevent birds getting in the way of planes taking off and landing.

The podcast also tackles subjects like sustainability and what the airport does to inspire young people about a career in aviation.

Listeners also hear from travel expert Simon Calder, who shares his tips on bagging a bargain and having the smoothest possible airport experience.

In the first episode, Chris Woodroofe tells listeners how lucky he feels to be at the helm of what was his local airport growing up.

Looking forward to the peak summer season this year, he said: “We had probably one of the best Christmases we’ve ever had, and we really want Summer 2023 to be a great experience for our passengers. Airports have become much more of an experience, rather than just a service, and now compete with one another in that context.

The people in our catchment area, depending on where they’re flying, could be choosing other airports in this area. I want them to choose Manchester Airport and I want them to do that because they think they’re going to have a great experience.”

Reflecting on last summer, when the whole travel sector faced a challenging recovery, he added: “When I arrived [in June], heads were down a bit and job one was just to convince everyone that it was going to get better – and it absolutely did.”

He added: “What was clear right from the first day, when I went into the security areas, was that we have a group of people who really want Manchester Airport to be something they can be proud of.”