Recently had a short trip to Amsterdam by myself. This was the experience travelling without pre-booked assistance, but while wearing a sunflower ID card and lanyard.

Manchester T1 Departures

I arrived at a quiet time for the airport with the security queues at a minimum, clear instructions were given to all passengers on how to arrange items in the tray to reduced the need for a manual check. After passing security there is a forced through the duty free shop to reach the main departure lounge, once there a “sunflower room” is off to the side with subdued lighting.
The sunflower room at Manchester Airport T1, containing a few armchairs and tables. the lights are dimmer than in the rest of the airport

Amsterdam Arrivals

Navigating from the gate to the baggage hall was slightly confusing due to ongoing building works with portable signs contradicting the permanent ones in places, however the first of these did have a staff member helping with directions. At passport control I was instantly recognised and directed from the main queue to the “aircrew, diplomats, and disabled” lane, this was very helpful as there were only 2 officers on duty despise a flight from China being ahead with its passengers needing extra documents to be checked…

Amsterdam Departures

I had decided to make a booking with the free security timeslot service available to all passengers, this has no one else at all at my selected time allowing me to proceed directly to the merge point with the main queue. As they have the advanced CT based bag scanners in use this was much faster with no need to remove liquids and electronics from the bag. Passport control was once again the same, being directed to the express lane. While there is no dedicated quiet room in the departure hall there is a small gallery from the Rijksmuseum, which of course requires dimmed lighting to protect the paintings within.

Manchester T1 Arrivals

Fortunately we arrived at a gate on the good side of T1 that prevents conflict with other gate boarding, (unlike the Netherlands the UK does not allow arriving and departing passengers to cross paths). At passport control I was once again directed to the dedicated assistance lane.

  • @RogueEnglish
    2•7 months ago

    How much of a difference do you think it made compared to previous experiences?

    • markOP
      3•7 months ago

      @Rogue I’m familiar enough with Manchester from years of family holidays that I could have easily followed the usual routine and found some of the lesser used seating areas. At Amsterdam it did help quite a bit with being able to manage such a large busy place and reduce the worry of being late.