For many years people going abroad from the north of England and the midlands have consistently used Manchester airport if they were travelling abroad due to the lack of alternative airports and a wider choice of destinations. Whilst Manchester airport still is the main airport there is no doubt that the other airports are catching up fast.

Whilst Manchester airport is growing its overall share of the Northern market has shrunk with East Midlands airport in particular growing at a faster pace. There is little doubt that holidaymakers would rather to use their local airport and as a regular traveller from all these airports my first choice would always be East Midlands followed by Birmingham then Manchester with Leeds a distant fourth due to its poor location.

However if you are flying from Manchester airport and due to timings you may want to consider using hotels near Manchester airport an alternative which is more pricey. But I must admit I do enjoy it, although I have found that East Midlands airport parking and parking at Birmingham airport to be generally cheaper than parking at Manchester airport. On top of cheaper airport parking, less travelling costs. Overall it just seems a lot less stressful experience.

There are really only 2 things why I would favour Manchester airport over either East Midlands or Birmingham airport. The first being the time of the return flight I don’t like getting back to the terminal at 2am then having to drive home. The second reason is if the price of the flight was much cheaper.