1/144 Manchester Airport/Manchester International Airport/Ringwa

Kits-World - 1/144 Manchester Airport/Manchester International Airport/Ringway Airport Size 675mm x 675mm

Beginning and early days

What is now Manchester Airport traces its ancestry back to the 1930s. Construction of Ringway Airport as it was formerly known, in 1935, and the site partially opened in June 1937 before becoming fully operational in June 1938, officially opening with an air pageant to mark the occasion. The first scheduled flight to take off from Ringway was a Klm Douglas DC-2 bound for Amsterdam. Klm was, at this time, the only international airline to use Ringway.

The Second World War and 1950s

In 1939, the airport was expanded by the construction of a Royal Air Force satellite station to the north east for flying training and parachute training use, and was named as Raf Ringway becoming operational in early 1940. No. 1 (Coastal) Operational Training Unit Raf was the first squadron based there and No. 1 Parachute Training School Raf became active in June of the same year. The latter was responsible for training agents of the Soe (Special Operations Executive) to jump.

Also based at Ringway was No. 14 Ferry Pilot Pool, Air Transport Auxiliary responsible for the 'delivery to unit' of aircraft built, repaired or modified by Fairey Aviation and Avro both of which also occupied large facilities at the base, and built Fairey Battles, Fulmars and Barracudas, along with Bristol Beaufighter's, Handley Page Halifax bombers and Avro York transports. Ringway was also instrumental in the development of prototypes of the Avro Ringway, Lancaster and Lincoln bomber. A large number of units were based at Ringway over the course of the war. Nos 4, 78, 253, 264, 296 and 663 Squadrons and numerous other units were located there. In 1939 No. 613 (City of Ringway) Squadron operated from the base and then again post war flying Supermarine Spitfires and later, de Havilland Vampires as part of the Royal Auxiliary Air Force.

After the war and into the first half of the 1950s, the facility started to introduce civilian traffic once more, with initially, pleasure flights being operated by Airviews Ltd. In 1946, Air France commenced services from Ringway, and in 1953, Sabena Belgian World Airlines began trans-Atlantic flights from Ringway to New York flying Douglas DC-6Bs, along with British European Airways and Dan-Air also operating services. In 1957, the Royal Auxiliary Air Force disbanded its squadrons and Raf Ringway was closed and came totally under civilian use as a cargo and maintenance hub.

In 1958, construction began of what would become Terminal 1, with a number of existing buildings from the Raf Ringway era being demolished to make way for this new facility. The main runway was also extend to 7000 ft allowing longer range aircraft to land at the airport. Terminal 1 opened towards the end of 1962.

The 1960s and 1970s

Throughout the first half of the 1960s air traffic began to build at Ringway, with airlines large and small using the facility. Among regular users during the '60s were, Austrian Airlines, Dan-Air, Falcon Airways, Martins Air Charter, Air Safaris, Autair International, Aer Lingus, Air Afrique, Balair, British European Airways (BEA), Bks Air Transport, British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC), Braathens SAFE, British Eagle, Caledonian, Channel Airways, British United Airways, El Al, KLM, Swissair, Union De Transports Aeriens (UTA), Britannia Airways, British Midland, British Westpoint, Canadian Pacific, Transglobe, Olympic, Invicta, Luxair, Cambrian Airways, Compagnie Air Transport, Air Ferry, and Seaboard World Airlines. This is not including minor operators or operators that made fleeting visits or flights that were diverted. A number of European air forces as well as the USAF and Rcaf made visits or stop-off flights to Ringway too. 1970 saw the first flight into Ringway of a Boac Boeing 747. This was the first wide body airliner to land at the facility, and heralded the beginning of a new era. Ringway had now become a truly global airport. In 1968, work on the M56 motorway was started and a link to Ringway Airport was built by 1972.

In 1975, the airport was renamed as Manchester International Airport, replacing the original Ringway name. The name would change again in 1986, when it simply became Manchester Airport. Also by this time, the airport had expanded greatly, and in fact, the complex straddled the county border across into Cheshire.

The 1970s also saw the expansion of greater air traffic and more carriers using the site, Balkan Bulgarian, Wardair Canada, Bea Channel Islands Airways, Monarch Airlines, Air Spain, Aero Spacelines, Air Canada, Sas Scandinavian, World Airways, Court Line, Skyways International, Kestrel Aviation, Lufthansa, Northeast Airlines, Spantax, Cyprus Airways, Aeroflot, Alidair, British Airtours, Fred Olsen, British Airways, Iberia, Pacific Western, Trans International, QANTAS, Air Malta, British West Indies Airways (BWIA), East African Airways, Jugoslovenski Aerotransport (JAT), British Caledonian, Trans World Airlines (TWA), Pan American World Airways (Pan Am), South African Airways, Air Kilroe, Iran Air, Korean Air Lines, Laker, Malaysian Airlines, Singapore Airlines and Trans European Airways (TEA). Manchester International had become one of the busiest UK-based airport hubs outside of Heathrow.

The 1980s

The 1980s saw further expansion and improvement. As has been mentioned, the 'International' moniker was ditched in favour of Manchester Airport in 1986. Also in the same year, the World Freight Terminal was opened. This served only cargo and freight flights and included storage facilities, office and warehouse space and also three maintenance hangars, with facilities for over one hundred freight transport companies. In 1988, it was decided that a second terminal would be required to handle the huge volumes of traffic going through the airport, and in 1989, Terminal 1A Domestic as it was then known, was opened by Diana, Princess of Wales.

The 1980s saw further carriers operating to and from the airport, Cp Air, Inex Adria, Air Ecosse, Air Europe, Air UK, Aviaco, Aviogenex, Executive Express, Guernsey Airlines, Interflug, Kar-Air, Nor-Fly Charter, Orion Airways, Saudi Arabian Airlines, Icelandair, Transportes Aereos Portugueses (TAP), Tarom, Air Manchester, Capitol Airways, Finnair, Garuda Indonesia, Hapag Lloyd, Manx Air Lines, Nigeria Airways, Royal Air Maroc, Transavia Holland, Kenya Airways, Inter City Airlines, Lot Polish Air Lines, Tunis Air, Euro Air Transport, Loganair, Genair (British Caledonian), Cathay Pacific, Singapore Airlines, Air 2000, Air India, Cal Air International, Canafrica, Continental Airlines, Dlt Luftverkehrsgesellschaft (DLT), Instone Atlantic Air Transport, Birmingham Executive, Gulf Air, Highland Express, Hispania, Inter European Airways, Martinair Holland, Mediterranean Express, Middle East Airlines (MEA), Emery Worldwide, Nationair Canada, Okada Air, Piedmont Airlines, Gamair, Scibe Airlift, Aeromaritime, Air Uk Leisure, Amber Air, American Airlines (AA), Ryanair, Baltic Airlines, Corse-Air International, Delta Airlines, Air Atlantique, Connectair, London City Airways, Iraqi Airways, London European Airways, Lionair, Manxfly Aviation, Paramount Airlines, Spanair, Aer Turas, Aero France, Air Hong Kong, Air Atlanta Icelandic, Air Liberte, Alitalia, Bht Bo£ azici, Biman Bangladesh, Business Air, Delta Air Transport (DAT), Europe Aero Service (EAS), Scottish European, HawaIIan Air, Hot Air, Lufttransport-Unternehmen (LTU), United Parcel Service (UPS), Noble Air, Novair International, Oasis Airlines, Paramount Airways, Trans-Mediterranean Airways (TMA), Trans Ocean Airways, and Worldways Canada.

1990s and into the 21st century

Terminal 2 was opened in 1993 by the Duke of Edinburgh, and the same year saw the opening of Manchester Airport railway station providing a vital transport link into Manchester itself and to allow onward travel. Runway Two was commissioned in 1997, and subsequently caused protests across the area not only from environmentalists, but also from groups opposed to the proposed demolition of listed buildings that the location of the runway would cause. Construction of the runway started nevertheless and it was opened in early 2001. Terminal 1A was renamed as Terminal 3 and in 1998 a new British Airways extension was opened at that location.

Further facilities were constructed at Manchester and by the early 2000s, the airport was handling some 15 to 20 million passengers a year. A new coach, bus and rail hub was opened in 2004, and that same year, it was announced that the airport would be expanded to enable the new Airbus A380, currently the worlds largest passenger airliner, with Emirates Airlines beginning flights in September 2010. Work also began on upgrading Runway 1 in 2011, along with a terminus for the Manchester Metrolink in the same year.

Examples of carriers seen at or operating to and from the airport during the '90s and 2000s not listed above are as follows, Air Atlantis, Air Europa, Air Europe Express, Air Holland, Air Niugini, Business Air, Canadian Airlines International, Emirates, Futura, Aero Lloyd, American Trans Air, Nortjet, Princess Air, Zambia Airways, Air Koryo, Acs Cargo, Air Columbus, Air Littoral, Air Transat, ATI, Base Business Airlines, Excalibur, Kalitta Flying Services, Nordic East, DHL, Royal Air Maroc, Silk Air, Viva Air, Aire d' Evasions, Air Foyle, Istanbul Airlines, Jersey European, Lauda Air, Premiair, Tnt Cargo, Translift Airways, Tur Avrupa Hava Yollari, Air Ukraine, AirAlfa, Air Ops, Airworld, Ambassador Airways, British World Airways, Regional Airlines, Suckling Airways, Southern Air Transport, Turkish Airlines, Air Lanka, Advance Cargo, Aerocondor, Eurodirect, Polar Air Cargo, Sabre Air, Transwede, Uzbekistan Airways, Air Inter, Sunways, Crossair, Csa Czech Airlines, Onur Air, Palmair, Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), Peach Air, Swedair, Virgin Atlantic, Air Engiadina, Air Mauritius, Air Plus, Air Scandic, Canarias Regional Air, Croatia Airlines, Cubana, Debonair, Flying Colours, Islandsflug, L' Aeropostale, Maersk Air, Malmo Aviation, Miami Air, Sun Country, Portugalia, Skyservice, Sobelair, Streamline, Trans Arabian Air Transport (TAAT), Virgin Express, Viva Air, VLM, Aero Continente, Air Toulouse, Air VIA, AirStan Heavylift, Canada 3000, Condor, EuroCypria, Belair, Apple Vacations, Jmc Air, Keenair, Skydrift, Virgin Sun, Gill Airways, Go Fly, Heavylift Cargo, Iberworld, Klm UK, Pegasus, Royal, Royal Jordanian, Aeris, Tcs Expeditions, Air Anatolia, Tailwind Airlines, TUI, Easyjet, Thomas Cook, Etihad, Aurigny, Eurowings, Jet2, Enter Air, Flybe, Alba Star, Belavia, Hainan Airlines, Blue Islands, Air Charter Scotland, Qatar Airways, Pullmantur Air, AnAir, Antonov Airlines, and Danish Air Transport.

Of course, the operator lists are not exhaustive!

Looking to the future, Manchester Airport will undoubtedly continue to expand as the years progress, and will continue to be one of the United Kingdoms' leading air transport hubs.

The base itself

It will be noted from the schematic diagram that there are items that will need to be added to the base. The main one is part of the terminus which runs along the flight line. Aerial measurements are given for this, but it will be down to the modeller to research the building and how to construct it. This area can, of course, be trimmed off.