Review: Aether at Manchester Airport, is it worth it?

What’s Manchester’s private terminal really like?

The (re)opening of Aether, formerly PremAir, has been a long time coming. Between the announcement of the launch date and the formal opening early this month, there’s been a flurry of press releases, each slightly more breathless than the last. The big question is, can MAN deliver a truly premium experience?

What is Aether?

Aether sits in the former PremAir building at Manchester Airport. Billed as a private terminal – and it is just that – the terminal sits so far from the main airport that you reach it via a different motorway junction. If you’ve ever been to the “Runway Visitor Park”, the public area where Concorde is housed, it’s next door.

Travel through Aether and you won’t go anywhere near the main terminals until your flight is boarding. On paper, that sounds great (does anyone love going through airports?), but the reality, which I understand now that I’ve passed through it, is that it completely changes the travel experience.

In the last year, I’ve had two other travel experiences that have – in the words of Gen-Z – altered my brain chemistry. The first was taking a driverless taxi in Phoenix, US. On paper, yes, it sounds interesting, even fun. The reality was that the privacy, comfort, ease and safety blew my mind. It was an infinitely better way to travel.

The same happened when I flew Etihad’s The Residence. What I adored was its privacy. You had your own bathroom, so no queuing. The bedroom is the most enclosed and private space in any commercial airliner. The theme for travel happiness, at least for me, is having your own space and seeing as few people as possible.

Getting to Aether

The easiest way to travel to Aether is by road, and you’ll take junction 6 off the M56. It’s around four minutes from the motorway to the front gate. If you’re driving your own car, rather than a taxi, there’s a small car park which holds sixteen vehicles. You can pay for parking, which is at a premium compared to parking at the main terminals, and that means you leave your vehicle a couple of metres away from Aether, and when you return, you’ll pick your car up from the same place.

If you plan to reach Manchester Airport by bus, tram or train then you’ll need to get a taxi from the transport interchange to Aether. It is possible to walk to Aether, but it is not recommended, indeed Manchester Airport actively suggests you avoid doing this.

The entrance to the Aether car park is well-signposted. Pull up, hit the intercom button, give your name, and the barriers will open. It’s a little confusing, as the barrier screen has four buttons underneath it and an intercom button to one side. Ignore the four—they should really be removed or blanked out as they serve no purpose.

The drive from the gate to the car park is around ten seconds. It’s a single track as it’s a tight piece of land that’s sandwiched between the Runway Visitor Park and the airport itself. Turn a corner and you’ll see both Aether and the car parking spaces. There’s one electric car charging point in the car park. I’m unsure how you can access it. When we arrived a Tesla was being charged.

What happens when you arrive at Aether

If you’ve ever parked at the main terminal,, you’ll know it can be a stressful experience. With the “Meet and greet” service, there are scanners that you drive through, you’ll be directed to park in a particular lane, and then there’s a feeling of being rushed to get out and start your walk to the main building.

Aether is all about going at your own speed. Find a car parking space, take your time getting your cases out and then meander over to the front door. The slower pace immediately feels strange for an airport.

We were met at the door by an attendant. The same person looked after us from our arrival up to the point where we passed through security just prior to boarding our flight. She walked us into the building and to reception.

This area was larger than expected, it seemed quite narrow in the photographs. The reception was manned by two people, one checked our boarding passes and passports and another took our car keys and looked after our parking. It took around two minutes to complete this part of the process, including some general chat.

The reception area leads to several different places: the main lounge, the security area, and three toilets (one of which is for disabled customers). Aether customers who fly into MAN will pass through security in this building and then into the reception.

There are two check-in terminals in reception and one set of scales to weigh luggage. As we were carrying hand luggage only and had booked in online, we did not need to use them.

The Aether lounge

The main lounge at Aether was bigger than I expected. One wall of the building is glazed from floor to ceiling, and it looks out over the runway and taxiways. The back wall contains drinks and coffee machines. It is a very attractive space. There are different seating options (sit-down restaurant style, armchairs with smaller tables, high tables with stools, and comfortable seating with coffee tables).

When we arrived, Aether was empty, so we sat in the chairs closest to the window so we could plane-watch. This was fine for having a coffee, but the table was quite small, so once we got to the larger plates on the five-course breakfast (yes, five), we switched to restaurant-style seating.

The lounge is a beautiful spaces. Not quite Qatar First Class Lounge stunning, but more independent- boutique-hotel beautiful. There are nice touches all around you, from the crockery to the ornaments.

This was also a quiet lounge, helped by there being no other guests for the first half of our visit. This could, of course, change based on who was in the space with you but Aether have promised to keep numbers low. There’s very light, relaxing background music, and the staff members tend to talk in hushed tones.

I have to hand it to Manchester Airport, they've delivered. I wanted to hate Aether because it cost me £600, but it's worth it. I also thought that they would fumble this one badly. Aside from a few niggles - the biggest being the customer experience during the booking process - they've delivered what they said they would, and I think surpassed it. The question now is, can they deliver the same experience to me repeatedly.

Food and drink at Aether

Our flight was at 11 a.m., so we enjoyed the breakfast menu. It consisted of five courses, starting with coffee and seasonal fruit (mango). The fruit was served in a bowl that contained a semicircle of ice, with pressed flowers frozen into it, and the fruit sitting on top of it. An interesting and cute touch.

The second course was a croissant, which looked like it originated from a Pollen bakery in Ancoats (such is my fanboying of bakeries). The oversized pastry was served with whipped butter and jam. It was a meal in itself and an enjoyable one.

I skipped the third course, but my wife had mashed Avocado on rye. She gave it a solid 8 out of 10, which is a high score for her. Out of all the courses, the third is the most substantial. It’s also the one where you have a choice. The alternatives were hot smoked Salmon and scrambled crumpet or the breakfast bun, equivalent to a full English between two sourdough baps. The Aether team really does want you to jet off with a full stomach.

The fourth round was stewed fruit (Apple), granola and yoghurt. I was running out of space to put this, so I just nibbled on the fruit, which was delicious.

Finally, we both enjoyed a Smoothie shot (which I believe was Apple and Raspberry) and “today’s cake.” This was a warm madeleine covered in lightly spiced sugar. I am a huge fan of cakes, especially madeleines, and this was probably the best I have ever had.

As it was early, we skipped any alcohol. I had two coffees, both lovely and delivered from the largest Nespresso machine I’ve ever seen. If you want to go for the harder stuff, there was a wide selection of wines, beers, champagnes, and spirits. Most were mid- to high-end brands.

The food and drink were served when we were ready for it, so we didn’t feel rushed. I thought that we would have too much dead time at Aether, but the courses were nicely spread out, so we finished our final plate just before we needed to go through security.

We arrived around two and a half hours before our flight, thinking that we’d be twiddling our thumbs, but instead, our time was taken up gazing out of the window while we ate an almost neverending breakfast.

It’s also worth saying that the food presentation was on point. The glassware and crockery were also high-end. During my visit, I was being hard on Aether and looking for faults—especially given the price—but they just weren’t there.

My biggest issue with the experience was how painful it was post-booking (and post-paying) to give all of your details to them for the outbound flight, inbound flight, and the same again for parking. It felt repetitive and unnecessary.

How busy was Aether?

When we arrived, it was empty, and after around forty-five minutes, two passengers on an inbound flight came in. No other travellers passed through the building. At all times we were outnumbered by staff.

During security and passport checks there were five people employed by MAN in that room, and just two of us. We travelled out on a Friday morning, arriving at 8:20 and leaving Aether itself at 10am.

What are the bathrooms like?

Manchester Airport won’t win any awards for its bathrooms. Even the lounge toilets are scary. Aether’s bathrooms were clean, attractive, and stocked with Molton Brown toiletries. They weren’t huge, but they were big enough. There are three in total, all located just off the reception area.

I don’t believe there are any showers here—at least, I couldn’t see any, and there’s no mention of them on the Aether website.

Plane watching at Aether

If you enjoy watching planes take off, land, or tootle themselves around an airport, then Aether is arguably the best location to do this at MAN.

Landing aircraft would stop just in front of us and then turn and taxi right by the building. Takeoffs started just in front of the building. It’s a slightly better view than the public viewing area, but you’re also inside and being given a hardy supply of food and drink. When we flew back into Aether and had lunch, the runways were reversed, so we saw more of the takeoff than our outbound flight.

How does security work?

The Aether building has its own security wing, which is located off the main reception. If you’re flying out, you’ll walk the ten or so steps from the lounge to the security room. If you’re flying into Aether, you’ll do this in reverse. For obvious reasons, this was the only room I wasn’t allowed to take photos in.

As you walk through the doors, someone will check your passport and boarding pass. When this was going on my hand luggage was being put into a tray to go through a scanner. The same rules still apply here – get everything out of your pockets, remove your belt and pop everything into a tray.

You then walk through a body scanner, and you go through an additional scanning process, which is for shoes only. This requires you to step onto a platform whilst holding onto two handrails, one foot at a time and your left foot first. I haven’t experienced this type of scanning before.

The entire process took ninety seconds. Once you’ve gathered your belongings, you’re taken into a smaller room. Staff offered us bottled water to take on our flight, and then it was through the doors to your car.

Two people accompanied us on the journey, and they opened the car doors for us and loaded our cabin baggage into the trunk.

How do you get to the plane and board it?

I was looking forward to the drive across the airport. Just as we set off from Aether, a private jet was pushing back from a nearby hangar, so we had to reverse to a layby to let it past. As the plane turned to face away from us the wake from the engines hit our car. It was moving at a slow speed, so I was surprised at how much the car shook from this. Another unique experience.

We were held up again just around the corner as a fire engine returned to base. None of these holdups were an issue, it was ten minutes from leaving Aether to stepping foot on our flight. If anything it was too short. It was fun to be driven around the airport, and see some jets from a new angle. We ended up driving past a Virgin 787 that was sitting at a remote stand.

At the main terminal, we parked up close to where our Turkish Airlines plane was and entered the building through a door at ground level. The two staff members carried our cabin bags and walked us to the gate.

This was timed perfectly, as the gate had just opened for business class passengers, and we walked straight on the plane. I’m not sure what happens if there’s a queue or if boarding has been delayed. I’ve read reports that you’ll be taken to the front of the queue.

How much did we pay for Aether?

We paid £600 for two people, which covered our outbound and inbound flights. This was for cabin baggage but not the express (no food) option, as we really wanted to eat in Aether. In addition, we paid £132 for car parking, from Friday through to Monday.

Update: Flying back into Aether

Flying back into Aether was similar to flying out but in reverse, with a few slight changes. We were met at the end of the jetbridge by two Aether staff members who had a sign with our names on it. They took our cases and walked us to the nearest stairwell and through an exit.

They opened the car doors and deposited our cases in the car boot. The drive from the terminal to Aether was much faster than our outbound trip as we didn’t have the private jet or fire engine hold up.

When we arrived back at the Aether building, we disembarked from the car, and our cases were handed to another member of staff. He took us into a small room, opened a second door and then handed our cases to us.

This turned out to be the border control room, and he said he wasn’t allowed to set foot in there; hence, we had to carry our own luggage. This room was tiny, with just enough space for a desk and a border agent. Two minutes later, we walked out and back to the reception area. We were then shown into the main Aether lounge. There were two other guests in the lounge when we were there.

If you thought a five-course breakfast menu was overkill, prepare yourself for the seven-course lunch. We’d eaten on the plane, so we skipped some and adjusted others. We were told that the chef is happy to make any changes for us. The goal is for us to leave happy, which was a nice response.

We opted for split pea drip and vegetable crisps and the crumpet topped with shrimp. We were talked into trying a bitter lemon and fresh orange combo. A pretty simple mocktail, but one we loved so much we ended up recreating it at home. I mentioned to the staff member that I loved the Maddelines from our outbound trip, so like a greedy child, I was given extra ones.

After the final course, the chef came out to say hello to us.

Flying back in via Aether was everything I’d hoped it would be, given the great experience we had flying out. Passport control, the crowds around the baggage reclaim and finding your way back to the car park feels don’t feel like the worst thing in the world, but avoiding them leads to a much more relaxing experience.

Driving out of Aether was really easy. I’d guess it was four minutes before we hit the M56. Even the route from the private terminal to the motorway is better than navigating your way out of the main terminals, which – despite having done it hundreds of times – can be confusing.

The Verdict: is Aether worth it?

Now that I’ve experienced Aether, the answer is a resounding yes. I had my concerns, as MAN has launched products that are billed as being luxury but end up being decidedly mid. This is not an Escape Lounge in a a separate building, this is a whole new way to travel.

The price you pay for Aether is not a stealth tax, and what I mean by that is you are not paying to get an experience that you probably should have had in the main terminals.

The cost associated with Aether is about giving you entry to a decidedly calmer, nicer way to travel, which is incomparable to even the best airports. This fundamentally differs from the experience you get at Singapore’s Changi or Doha in Qatar (the two airports that jostle for “World’s Best” every year). Aether is better than Abu Dhabi’s new terminal, which I felt was better than both Changi and Doha when I visited.

There are other private terminals in the UK namely Heathrow and London City that may well equal or surpass Aether. Heathrow is significantly more expensive, and I don’t see London City being on my travel itinerary in the future, so to have something like Aether on my doorstep is great.

Was it worth £600 and is it fair that it’s £600 are two different questions. It was absolutely worth it, and it is absolutely unfair that it’s not cheaper so I can use it on every trip. Of course if it was cheaper, then more people would use it, which – if travel happiness for me is seeing as few people as possible – would mean Aether isn’t as good.

If you have the cash and are thinking of booking it then just do it. Just not on the dates that I want to go.