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 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 and Easyjet, and we now have some insight on potential dates.
How can we work out the move date?
Manchester 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 (current) move dates
The dates below are according to Manchester Airport, via their parking service. Whilst you would expect them to be accurate, there are a lot of reasons why they could be wrong, and you should defer to the airline and not the airport.
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 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 a 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.
| Airline | Move Date |
|---|---|
| Aer Lingus (IE flights) | Tuesday 16th September |
| British Airways | Tuesday 7th October |
| Easyjet | Wednesday 19th November |
| Emirates | Tuesday 18th November |
| Etihad | Tuesday 18th November |
| Gulf Air | Wednesday 5th November |
| Icelandair | Tuesday 28th October |
| Loganair | Monday 20th October |
| Luxair | Monday 22nd September |
| Norse (Long haul) | Wednesday 26th November (when the first long haul flight starts) |
| SAS | Monday 6th October |
| Turkish | Tuesday 11th November |
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 on whether this is in a new space, or replacing a current concession.
From a passengers point of view T3 should be better in the future, and the airport is clearly positioning it as the super budget terminal. There are plenty of other airports worldwide that have done similar things, and they have terminals wholly focused on budget carriers.
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