With over 23 million people travelling through the busiest UK airport outside of London each year, Manchester Airport and the surrounding areas have to be prepared for higher-than-usual traffic levels but also take into account that all these extra cars eventually have to stop and park. Overall, they seem to have done a fairly good job, providing not only adequate parking both on- and off-site, but good overall public transport integration. This makes parking your car offsite and taking quick and accessible public transportation much more of an option. This guide provides a comprehensive explanation of the parking system and pricing at Manchester Airport. It also introduces alternative parking choices that may not have crossed your mind. The prices mentioned in this article were sourced from official websites and were accurate as of May 2023.
Manchester Airport Parking
Table of Contents
Parking at Manchester Airport
While there are other options to consider, Manchester Airport offers the most convenient parking for someone looking to absolutely minimise the hassle of parking. While you could find more affordable parking options, parking at the airport is by far the easiest, especially when travelling with heavy luggage or small children. The airport offers short- and long-stay parking options, meet-and-greet services, self-parking, and on-site shuttle transfers between the parking areas and the terminals. This means no long treks across vast parking lots. The terminals are located fairly close to each other –terminals 1 and 3 are located right next to each other, with T2 nearby– and are all connected by the Manchester Airport Skylink, a rolling walkway that gets you between any of the terminals within a few minutes. All this means you can easily get to your terminal, no matter where you park. Like other airports, Manchester Airport uses dynamic pricing, meaning that the parking price goes up and down throughout the year depending on how busy the airport gets. Pre-booking your parking in advance is a must: 4 out of 5 of the on-site parking garages only operate on a pre-booked system, and the 5th charges 250% more if you don’t book in advance.
Manchester Airport short-stay parking
Manchester Airport offers short-stay parking in their multi-storey car parks at T1 and T2 at £62.00 for a 3-day stay. It’s important to note that the parking has to be booked in advance to get this price. Unbooked, the same parking is advertised at £360.00 (for 8 days), increasing the daily rate from around £20 to £45. The multi-storey car parks are located right next to the terminal entrances, making them very convenient and without the need for an on-site shuttle. If you only plan on parking for one night, the short-stay rate changes from hourly to a fixed rate of £58.00 for 24 hours. If you plan on staying for 8 days or fewer, we’d recommend considering the mid-stay car park. Pre-booked, you can expect to pay around £66.00 for an 8-day stay. The mid-stay car park is located at T1/3. While you could get away with paying a few pounds less using the long-stay parking (more on that in the next section), you have the convenience of keeping your keys and immediately getting back to your car upon returning, without the hassle of waiting for your car or taking the shuttle.
Manchester Airport long-stay parking
For longer trips of 8 days or more, your most affordable on-site parking option is JetPark long-stay parking. The most affordable parking option comes in at £56 for a self-parking 8-day stay, with a £60 Drop & Go option that involves a quick shuttle transfer to T1 or T2, or a £70 Meet & Greet service that allows you to drive right up to the terminal and have your car parked for you. This is useful when travelling with children or heavy luggage. All parking at Manchester Airport is protected by CCTV, visible parking attendants, and fencing. For both Drop & Go and Meet & Greet, cameras will record your car so that you can be sure that it is returned in the same condition. Their car parks all meet the Park Mark and Buy with Confidence standards set for parking facilities and operations.
Other parking options away from the airport
Just because you’re heading to the airport doesn’t mean that your car has to as well. On-site airport parking is often significantly more expensive than at other places, and the traffic around airports can get really bad during certain seasons. Luckily, Manchester Airport –like many others in the UK to be honest– has really good public transport options to and from the airport available. This opens up new parking possibilities where you drive close to the airport, find safe and convenient parking, and make the last few miles by bus, train, or metro. Not only could you potentially save quite a bit doing this, even when factoring in the transport ticket, but you also get to the airport faster than during peak traffic times. With the Manchester Airport Metrolink Station within a few minutes walk or rolling walkway from all the terminals, and numerous bus services going to the airport, we’ll provide you with affordable and convenient parking options near Metrolink Stations and bus stops within a 15-minute or so radius of Manchester Airport. A one-way tram ticket costs £1.40 in zone 4, so if you can manage to find safe, affordable, and convenient parking near a tram stop, you could save a few pounds this way. Below, we’ve catalogued the tram stops with the best and most affordable parking nearby.
Parking near Wythenshawe Town Centre
While there are several tram stops closer to the airport, none of them have convenient and secure car parks nearby. We thought that our first entry should be the closest one that has both secure car parks and free streetside parking available. While leaving your car streetside where it is legal and without restriction shouldn’t be a problem for a few hours, we would recommend parking your car securely if leaving it overnight or for an extended period of time.
Your £1.40 ticket will get you from Wythenshawe Town Centre to the airport in about 13 minutes. Parking in Wythenshawe Town Centre is the best option if you’re driving down from Manchester, but don’t want to deal with the parking or traffic situation at the airport. You could potentially find streetside parking at any of the tram stops closer to the airport, but this is the last stop with secure parking within a short walk of the tram on this line.
- Forum Centre Car Park M22 5RX // Open 24h // £6/8h // Free after 5pm // 0.3 miles
- Asda Wythenshawe Car Park M22 5HZ // Open 24h // 2h Maximum // 0.2 miles
- Summerfield Road M22 1BD // Residential streetside // Unrestricted // 0.3 miles
- Longlevens Road M22 1AX // Residential streetside // Unrestricted // 0.3 miles
- Gladeside Road M22 9OS // Residential streetside // Unrestricted // 0.3 miles
Parking near Wilmslow Station
If you’re heading to Manchester Airport from the south or southeast, ie from Stoke-on-Trent, Derby, or Nottingham, you could seriously consider stopping your car at Wilmslow station, a 12-min train ride from the airport. While tickets are available upon arrival, pre-booking a ticket once again snags you a hefty discount, bringing the cost down to just under £3. With your train ticket booked, make sure you’re not late. There are only 18 trains per day, meaning a missed train could mean having to drive on through to the airport and adding that parking cost to the cost of a missed train. While the stress of potentially missing the train in either direction could scare you off finding parking here, someone looking for long-stay parking, say for a quick break to Portugal, could seriously consider this location. The Wilmslow Station Car Park, adjacent to the station, offers secure parking at a very reasonable rate.
- Wilmslow Station Car Park SK9 1BU // Open 24h // £35/week // 0.1 miles
- Broadway Meadow Car Park SK9 1NA // Open 24h // £28 for 5 days// 0.3 miles
Streetside parking near Wilmslow station is difficult to find. The nearest unrestricted streetside parking is more than a 20-minute walk away, something to avoid on a day when you’re travelling to or from the airport.
Parking in Stockford
If you’re approaching the airport from Leeds, Sheffield, or somewhere else to the north or east of Manchester Airport, you’ll most likely end up on the M60 going through Stockport. The 199 Skyline bus departs from Garrick Theatre every 30 minutes and takes about 30 minutes to make the journey to the airport. A single ticket costs about £4.50. While there aren’t any affordable long-stay car parks within convenient walking distance of Garrick Theatre, these are excellent options to consider for short-stay if you’re only heading to the airport for a couple of hours. Safe and secure parking options near Garrick Theatre in Stockford include:
- Mersey Shopping Centre Car Park SK1 1PD // Open 6am – 1:30am // £3.60/4h, £10.80/24h // 0.2 miles
- NCP Stockport Exchange Station SK1 3SW // Open 24h // £3.80/4h, £11.95/24h // Up to 50% discounts when using NCP app // 0.3 miles
- Heaton Lane Car Park SK4 1AR // Open Mon-Sat 6am to 6pm // £1/h // 0.4 miles
Driveway rentals
A more recent development in the world of parking is driveway rental apps. This allows people to effortlessly rent out their own driveways, on either a short- or long-term basis, and is especially popular in places with limited or expensive parking, such as near airports. While airport infrastructure typically makes it difficult to walk the last mile to the airport, getting a good rate for a week’s parking and simply paying a taxi or Uber for a short ride could still save you plenty. The biggest player in the driveway rental space is Justpark.com. A quick search with your travel times and dates will reveal dozens of driveways within a 2-mile radius of the airport with parking options available from as little as £2.60/4h, averaging at about £4.20/4h. A week’s stay in someone’s driveway, again within a 2-mile radius, will cost anywhere from £22, with lots of options at around £30.
Airport Park & Ride
Our final cost-saving solution today is to consider airport park-and-ride services. These typically involve driving to an offsite location, parking your car, and taking a shuttle to the airport. Upon your return, a shuttle will be waiting to take you back to your car, or your car might be waiting for you at the airport. Offsite parking options with the transfer price included often work out more affordable than parking at the airport.
Toad Park & Ride // Carepark Park & Ride
Both of these park & ride services operate out of Care Park, located less than a 5-minute drive from the airport making them very attractive. They offer valet parking by insured drivers, your vehicle waiting for you near reception on the pick-up date, 24-h security, and courtesy buses to the airport every 20 minutes between April and October and every 30 minutes the rest of the year. These family-run businesses are located on a 3-acre site, making them suitable for parking trailers and other larger vehicles. Parking starts at £28 per week. This is the most affordable long-stay parking we could find that is within 5 minutes of the airport. You can contact them at 0161 470 8210 or visit their website.
After an exhaustive search, we’ve concluded that this is the only Park & Ride service that manages to compete with Manchester Airport’s parking options, both in terms of price and convenience. The vast majority of park & ride services around Manchester Airport charge between £85 and £100 per week, compared to rates of under £60 offered by the airport. We hope that the information in this guide helps make your next trip to Manchester Airport a bit more convenient or cheaper. Remember to check out our free interactive map to help you find the best parking options that suit your needs.
Visiting Manchester and not sure what the parking situation will be like? Check out our free guide to finding the best free and paid parking spots in Manchester.
