By PG students Marion Depuntis and Juliette Lamarque.
As part of our Aviation Planning and Management module, we hadbeen given the opportunity to go to the Manchester International Airport. The study visit was designed to better our understanding of the theoretical concepts introduced in the previous lectures.
We learnt about the meet and greet parking system at the airport which resulted in visiting the parking office. It was interesting to learn that the parking revenue is the second most important revenues after aviation. We also had the chance to see how the airport communicates with the pilots to land and park thanks to new technologies. We were fortunate to learn about how everything worked in unison at the airport and were able to process how many different stakeholders were actually involved in the running of the organisation.
We also attended a presentation delivered by the Customer Services Manager in relation to Terminal 1 which was very interesting and thought provoking. Overall this was an intense day but very helpful to understand what actually goes on in an airport from a practical perspective.
Module Coordinator and Senior Lecturer Farhan Ahmed said ‘The study visit to Manchester International Airport was an essential part of the module. The access that Manchester Airport gives our students is vital in allowing students to see how taught theoretical aspects of the module are actually put into operation in the airport environment. The behind-the-scenes access is a real benefit to the students in that they are able to see operations and functions that are hidden from the traditional airport passenger, thus providing the students with a unique experience of one of the UK’s busiest airports. Finally, the expertise and knowledge of the airport staff is of the highest quality making the day fantastic for both students and staff alike!’