Airport evacuation as football fans flood in... and out

MANCHESTER Airport’s "busiest day" got off to a shaky start this morning when passengers were evacuated from Terminal 2 following a bungled fire alarm test.

The evacuation came as it was estimated that around 16,000 football fans would travel through the airport today and tomorrow due to UEFA Europa League ties.

Thirty-one flights from Spanish airports Bilbao and Vitoria are due to arrive today carrying 6,500 Bilbao fans, whose team face Manchester United at Old Trafford tonight.

Two thousand extra tickets were sold to the travelling fans after their initial allocation sold out.

Twelve flights are also scheduled between Manchester and Lisbon, as 3,000 Manchester City fans travel to Portugal to see their side take on Sporting Lisbon.

It is the busiest day for travelling football fans through the airport since the 2008 UEFA Cup final between Zenit St Petersburg and Glasgow Rangers.

Manchester Airport’s Chief Operating Officer, Andrew Harrison, said: “It’s set to be one of the busiest periods of football flights we’ve seen for quite some time and with passenger volumes having show growth for 12 consecutive months now, this is certainly another timely boost.

Staff at the airport, which was named as the [url=http://www.manchesterairport.co.uk/manweb.nsf/Content/ManchesternamedbestUKairport]Best UK airport[/url] at the Travel Weekly Globe Awards in January, responded quickly during the evacuation to let all passengers know it was a false alarm.

A spokesman said: "The evacuated passengers were back in the airport in 10 minutes. The airport is very busy but people are in high spirits."

By Kirsty Allen