Archive for April, 2008

Males Garage was the first Manchester Airport Parking Company at Manchester Airport but what follows is the story of how Manchester Airport Parking was born and how it has evolved over the years. From the cinder area of yester year to the huge industry it is today.

1953 and 1954 were massive years for Manchester Airport as they started to operate cutting edge aircraft such as the Convair liners and flying out to more European destinations. Long haul aircraft such as the DC-6 started to turn up in ever increasing numbers as air traffic increased at Manchester Airport.

Manchester Airports terminals by 1954 were expanding at a phenomenal rate as passenger figures reached approximately two hundred and fifty thousand. Three months after officially changing its name to Manchester Airport they reached their one-millionth passenger who incidentally travelled to the glamorous destination of the Isle of Man.

All this growth at Manchester Airport saw an increase in motor traffic and an opening for the first Manchester Airport car park. One young person was about to fill this gap. Jack Males the owner of Males Garage, an ex serviceman who had recently returned home to Wythenshawe opened up a small tractor repair company a short distance away from Manchester Airport not knowing the opportunity that was about to come his way.

As well as the rapid growth of Manchester Airport Males Tractor Services also expanded and branched out into plant hire and construction work. During this expansion of both businesses people would travel from Manchester Airport and at the time the car parking at Manchester Airport consisted of nothing more than a small cinder area close to the terminal with the capacity for only fifty cars. Upon their return travellers would have problems starting their vehicles so naturally went looking for help at the nearest place possible. Luckily for Jack Males and Males Garage they were the closest, so benefited from this extra trade by starting vehicles and providing small repairs.

This simple act of help would revolutionise the Manchester Airport Parking industry, as we know it today. Males Garage car storage was born, offering a secure alternative to the standard cinder path that was previously used, as well as still offering the convenience of being close to the airport. Over the years Males Garage went from strength to strength and for fifty-three years have been at the top of the parking food chain offering excellent customer service resulting in many customers returning year after year.

It was inevitable that during those fifty three years Males Garage could not possibly continue to be the only off airport Manchester Airport Parking provider and other companies started to spring up to keep up with the growth of Manchester Airport and its ever increasing passenger list. Despite this ever increasing growth in off airport parking companies Males Garage continued to operate and saw so many smaller companies come and go.

In 2007 a minimum of twenty two million people passed through Manchester Airport with still more to come. Manchester Airport decided they wanted the land where Males Garage stood and after fifty-three years of trading made Jack Males of Males garage an offer he could not refuse. I am sure all of the other Manchester Airport Parking companies in the area who have grown businesses as a result of Jacks insight all them years ago would like to say a huge thank you to Jack for the birth of Manchester Airport Parking as we know it today.

Standing at the carousel at Manchester Airport after a long or short haul flight hoping and praying that your luggage will appear. After what seems to be an eternity of waiting, you finally decide that your luggage has not arrived back with you and wonder what you are supposed to do next. This article describes what you can do to get your luggage back as quickly as possible.

First of all we need to understand why luggage goes missing in the first place. Missing luggage can usually be put down to human error. There are many different people who will interact with your luggage during its long journey and you are dependent such people as baggage handlers, check in personnel and security staff all getting their individual jobs absolutely right. Unfortunately we do not live in an ideal world and things will go wrong and unfortunately it could be your bag that gets lost.

Once you have realised that your bag is missing the first thing you need to do is report it missing at the lost baggage desk. At Manchester Airport these desks can usually be found in the baggage return areas but. Any member of staff will be able to direct you to the nearest desk should you have difficulty in locating them.

When reporting your lost luggage be sure to give as detailed a description as you can as it is much easier to locate a bag if they know what they are looking for. You may also be asked for a description of your luggage contents, again as much detail as possible but not totally necessary as nobody will expect you to know everything you have packed in your luggage.

Unfortunately there is no set time limit for finding lost luggage and airlines will more than likely not declare your luggage as officially lost until approximately 21 days so with any luck it will turn up naturally before then. There are various agencies that can help with lost luggage and are not difficult to find. they are off airport companies and more than likely a member of staff will give out their details. After the twenty one day period if your luggage still has not turned up you are entitled in most cases to claim compensation from your airline for your losses. I realise that this really is not what you would like but at least if you are aware of this fact you may get something back, then its not a total loss. In some cases airlines may be obliged to pay up to eight hundred pounds per person for lost luggage.

A very important note that everybody should know and not many people do, is that most airlines will try and persuade their customers to claim for any lost luggage through their own personal travel insurance. You are well within your rights to push the airline for direct compensation as under the Montreal Convention if an airline accepts any item as checked baggage it must accept liability for it. Most travel policies do not cover lost luggage but if they do they will no doubt be claiming the money back directly off the airline anyway.

The long and short of lost luggage is, that there really is no hard or fast or even guaranteed way to get your luggage back. Only ways and means to try. Armed with this information you will stand more than a fighting chance of getting your luggage back or at least some money to help ease the pain.