Manchester Airport is served by a wide variety of Darts of different shapes and sizes. In late April 2003 I went to Manchester Airport to catch a flight to Sicily, and spent an hour photographing some of them.

The first Dart I encountered was Plaxton Pointer bodied 9m Dart M359 OVU, one of four 29-seaters purchased by the Airport in 1994. They serve the airport's main on-site long stay car park, driving around the car park itself and picking up/setting down at a number of designated stops (and elsewhere at quiet times!), providing a free service to the terminals 1 and 3. The other three are M360-362 OVU, of which 361 was also in use during my visit.

Also owned by the Airport are three 25-seat Alexander ALX200 bodied 10.7m Dart SLFs, Y191-193 KNB, which were added to the fleet in 2001. 191 and 193 were both in use as staff buses when I visited. At first sight it may appear odd that staff are transported in Y-registered low floor vehicles whilst customers with bulky luggage are provided with nine year old step entrance vehicles, but possibly the reason for this is the extra length making the SLFs unsuitable for manoeuvring around the car park? The registration series will be familiar to Merseyside enthusiasts, appearing on Supertravel and Happy Al's MPDs, as well as two MPDs formerly operated by A1A Travel and an Optare Solo used briefly by Cumfy Bus.

Selwyn's of Runcorn operate an hourly service between Manchester Airport and Wilmslow railway station via Styal and Quarry Bank Mill, using this Plaxton MPD in dedicated "Styal Shuttle" livery.

Arriva have regular Dart operated services to and from the Airport in the form of the 19 group. The 19 and 19A are circular routes each travelling in opposite directions. Wythenshawe depot provides the Alexander-bodied Dennis Dart SLFs normally used on this service; R312 CVU is one of eleven remaining after sister vehicle 2307 was burnt out by an electrical fault. The batch carries dedicated branding for the service.

Returning to car park courtesy buses, several private parking operators also serve the Airport from different locations, mostly using Darts. Airparks operate at least two of these MPDs from their car park which is located in Handforth.

Carminder2 have parking facilities adjacent to the Airport and use this East Lancs Spryte bodied Dart SLF to take passengers to the terminals.

For completeness I have included this slightly lower quality photo as it is the only one I managed to take of Ringway Airpark's T284 PVM, a 34-seat Plaxton Pointer 2 bodied 10.7m Dart SLF. The distinctive and rather attractive blue and pink liveried vehicle is used to link Ringway's car park at Carrington to the airport. The company's website depicts an older, fully-fronted front-engined midicoach, but mentions "New for 2002, New Green LPG coaches". I did not see any of these but assume they share the route with T284 PVM; clearly more than one vehicle must be required as the car park is ten miles away and the frequency is 15 minutes.

I've included this picture because it is of another type and registration series relevant to Merseyside. Manchester Airport purchased three of these 48-seat Ikarus bodied DAF SB220s in 1993, being very similar to five former MTL examples currently operated by Arriva on the Wirral, and sharing the same registration series as four of them.

How to get to the Airport from Merseyside

By Coach

National Express operate seven direct journeys a day from Liverpool's Norton Street coach station to Manchester Airport, on services 380, 350 and 060. Times can be found at http://www.nationalexpress.co.uk/, which curiously appears to offer the choice of travelling via Manchester on the same departures, despite the fact that they go to the Airport first! Typical journey time is 55 minutes and as such is probably the best way of getting to the Airport from Liverpool city centre. Some coaches also stop at Edge Lane Drive.

National Express coach CU 6860, a Plaxton Premiere bodied Volvo from the Northern National fleet wearing what is now technically the "old" National Express livery, calls at Manchester Airport en route to Liverpool.

Additional Photo added August 2007

Manchester Airport Dennis Dart SLF 10.7M/Plaxton Pointer 2 is one of the latest Darts which form a batch of either 25 or 26 vehicles in total which replaced all the older Darts around 2005, though some of these too are likely to be replaced by new Mercedes Benz Citaros.  Thanks to Chris Lowe for this additional information and photograph.

By Train

First North Western operate and hourly direct service from Liverpool to Manchester Airport, although this stops at many intermediate stations and it is actually quicker to catch one of the half hourly express trains from Liverpool to Manchester Piccadilly and change there (typical journey time 71 or 76 minutes). The direct trains stop at Mossley Hill and Hunts Cross and are the best option from these stations; the 1725 also serves Edge Hill, West Allerton, Allerton and Halewood.

From Southport, hourly direct trains are available, again operated by FNW (typical journey time 85 minutes).

From most Wirral stations, take a Wirral Line service to Liverpool Lime Street; from some south Wirral stations, travelling via Chester and Crewe may be a suitable alternative - check timetables for details.

Train times are available via a number of sites including www.nationalrail.co.uk, www.networkrail.co.uk and www.thetrainline.com. If you use thetrainline, you can also check fares and purchase tickets online.

By Bus

There are numerous ways of getting from Liverpool to Manchester Airport by bus, although all involve changing at least twice, take 2-3 hours and are definitely for the more adventurous traveller! Those who prefer Stagecoach may choose the 23/23A to West Didsbury, changing onto a 104/105 at Princess Road or a 43/43A at Palatine Road. In the absence of the X1, travel via Warrington and Altrincham (6 -> 37/38 -> 19A) is probably the most direct route, with the added advantage for Dartfans that it will probably be Darts all the way! These are just a few of the possibilities. Some bus times are available through the GMPTE website which gives access to Greater Manchester and North West Journey Planners - although beware of results involving several changes travelling just one stop each!

If all the buses you plan to catch are operated by Arriva, the North West Zone Day ticket (£3.50 at the time of writing) provides good value. Most of the above mentioned routes are operated by Arriva except where otherwise indicated, however some 37/38 journeys are operated by Warrington Borough Transport.

By Car

Manchester Airport is approached via the M56. From the Wirral, use M53 -> M56; from Southport, use A570 -> M58 -> M6 -> M56. From Liverpool, there is a choice of routes, although at the time of writing there are road works on both the M62 and the M6, so Runcorn/Widnes Bridge -> Weston Point Expressway -> M56 may be the better choice.

Disclaimer

All of the above information is only intended as a rough guide; please check with the appropriate source before travelling!