When will BA (and other airlines) move to Manchester T2?

Emirates, BA, EasyJet and many other airlines are due to switch terminals at Manchester

This move has been a long time coming, and for many, it’s much anticipated. T2 is better than T1 and T3. After all, T2 is only the fourth-worst airport terminal in the UK. T1 is the second worst, and T3 is the worst. Quite the upgrade. There’s a big batch of airlines that need to move across, including British Airways, Emirates, Finnair, and EasyJet, and we now have some insight into the dates.

How can we work out the move date?

Manchester Airport are releasing dates only as they get close to that airline’s move date. However, their airport’s parking website allows you to enter a flight, and it will let you know which terminal you need to park at. By adding in airlines and then manually moving between dates, you can isolate the day that each airline is noted as being at Terminal 2 instead of T3 or T1.

The Manchester T2 airline move dates

The dates in the table below are according to Manchester Airport, with some flights confirmed by the airport itself and some via their parking service. While you would expect them to be accurate, there are several reasons why the dates could change, and you should always defer to the airline rather than the airport.

The airline will tell you directly if your flight has changed terminals. Keep an eye on your email inbox, and check your spam in case an important message ends up there. They can only email the individuals that they have the email addresses for, and that are linked to the booking. That means if you’re travelling as a family or group, the person who booked the flights will get the message.

This final batch of airline migrations to T2 has been somewhat problematic. Behind the scenes, concerns exist regarding the process for domestic passengers (mostly BA) to transition from the plane to the terminal. There’s also been talk about Emirates’ new lounge in T2 being delayed until very late in 2025 or early 2026.

All of these airline moves will compound the lounge issues in T2 for premium passengers. Put simply, there are not enough lounges or space in the lounges in Terminal 2. MAN plans to close the most premium 1903 lounge, although the hope is that they will delay this until more new lounges open.

There’s no clear view on what new lounges will open, beyond the new Emirates lounge. Maybe, although unlikely, a oneworld lounge at Manchester. More likely is a catch-all premium lounge, one that you can’t pay for access to, but that serves all (and there are many) airlines that have premium cabins flying from T2. That lounge will need to be big, and ideally, truly premium.

What if you’ve booked parking

The airport has said that if you’ve booked parking in Terminal 1 or 3, and your flight has moved to T2, and you booked parking directly with the airport, fill in this form and they will move you to “the most convenient car park” at no extra cost.

If you booked parking through a third party, then you will have to contact them. If you’ve booked parking via Jet Parks and Drop & Go then you won’t be impacted by the terminal change. You’ll just need to alight at T2 using the provided transport.

What if you’ve booked a lounge in T1?

There are no bookable lounges in T3, but you may have booked a lounge in T1. If you booked a lounge with Manchester Airport, then there’s a form to fill in and they will do their best to transfer you to the already-busy T2 Escape or 1903 Lounge. If they can’t fit you in, they’ll refund you.

If you booked a lounge via a third party, you’ll have to speak to them about a transfer or a refund.

What if you’ve paid for FastTrack?

Your T1 or T3 FastTrack booking will be able to use it in Terminal 2. Based on what the airport is saying, there’s no need to contact them.

What’s happening at T2?

Terminal 2 is the new super terminal. It’s just celebrated its fourth birthday, so that’s four years since the first phase of the transformation programme was completed.

Still to launch, but happening now and completing soon, is the second and final phase. That includes a whole host of new shops and restaurants at Terminal 2. Some are exciting, some not.

New food and drink at Terminal 2

Departures

• Manchester’s first Joe And The Juice (already opened)
• A new Starbucks (already opened)
• Upper Crust (already opened)
• Fever Tree bar
• Amber Alley, an extension of the Amber Alehouse.
• A Wetherspoons, the first at MAN.
• The Great Northern Food Hall
• Grindsmith by WH Smith (not entirely sure what this is)

Arrivals

• Costa Coffee
• Greggs

New shops at Terminal 2

Departures

• Lego Store (already open)
• Chanel
• Pandora
• Rituals
• Travelex
• WH Smith
• World Duty Free and World Duty Free Express

Arrivals

• Boots
• Travelex
• World Duty Free Express

What’s the deal with Emirates?

In August 2025, I had a conversation with one of the friendly attendants in the Emirates lounge. They said that they’re expecting to move in October or November (which aligns with what we’re seeing at Manchester Airport), but (and this is a big but) the new lounge in T2 won’t open till a few months after that.

If that is the case, then that won’t align well with Emirates’ premium experience. However, neither the move date nor the lounge build status has been confirmed by Emirates.

There is genuine excitement about the new Emirates lounge at T2. They, unlike BA, won’t accept mediocrity. There’s also talk about the lounge having direct boarding onto the plane, which will be a first for Manchester. There’s no doubt that this lounge will be the flagship lounge at T2, and it will help position Emirates above the other ME carriers (Qatar, Etihad, Gulf Air), who won’t have their own dedicated lounge.

They are also the only carrier to fly a first-class cabin from Manchester. We used points to fly from MAN to Shanghai, and the Emirates first class experience on the A380 was outstanding. That amazing experience started in the lounge, which was, despite it being over a decade old, absolutely great.

What will happen to T1 and T3?

T1 is technically closing. In reality, parts of the building will continue to be used, but there will no longer be a Terminal 1 at Manchester.

T3 is going to be Ryanair only. MAN announced that there will be a number of upgrades at that terminal, including the closing of the final, permanent lounge in that terminal, as it will be turned into a sports bar. The temporary BA lounge, the one that’s in a corridor, will be closed. A new restaurant will be opened, although it’s unclear whether this is in a new space or replacing a current concession.

From a passenger’s point of view, T3 should be better in the future, and the airport is clearly positioning it as the budget terminal. There are plenty of other airports worldwide that have done similar things (having a terminal wholly focused on just budget airlines), and it makes sense logistically and operationally. There’s also no need for jet bridges, as Ryanair won’t pay for their use of them.

Has T2 been a success?

That depends on who you ask. Customers, or at least the ones that Which? surveyed, have rated it as better than T1 and T3. However, compared to other airports, T2 is the fourth-worst terminal in the country, with only Luton and then Manchester’s own T1 and T3 being worse.

If you ask MAN, then they’ll tell you that Terminal 2 is incredible, amazing and world-class. It is none of those, but it is the best terminal at Manchester. It also isn’t fundamentally a bad terminal; it’s just overhyped by its management so much that reality becomes blurred. No one believes what the airport says any more, in some cases not even the airport itself.

Moving airlines from T1 and T3 to T2 makes absolute sense for the future. The passenger experience will be better. The shops and restaurants, at least in number, are better. Security, when they eliminate the liquids rule at T2, will be faster. Just expect some bumps along the way, as, after all, this is Manchester Airport and they do things differently there.