Formerly known as PremAir at Manchester Airport, Aether is a private terminal that is located away from the main airport terminals and gives you a more refined and carefree departure day experience.
Say goodbye to queuing up to check in your luggage, say goodbye to queuing up to go through security and say goodbye to waiting around twiddling your thumbs for your flight when at Aether as there’s a multi-course breakfast, dinner or lunch to tuck into depending on your flight.
You can even say goodbye to walking to your gate as a chauffered BMW will drop you off right outside of your plane. Depending on which flight you have (and if it’s a partner of Aether) you can board your plane directly. If the airline is not a partner of Aether you’ll be taken inside to your gate the second you’re ready to board.
Location
Aether is located away from the main terminals and is close to the Runway Visitor Park where Concorde is housed.
You won’t see the main terminals whatsoever during your journey until the time you board your flight.
The only way to get to Aether is a taxi as it’s down a narrow road or if you’re driving yourself there’s an additional fee to leave your car at the 16-vehicle car park that Aether has.
Upon arrival (it’s well sign-posted) you’ll press the intercom button, provide your name and then you’re allowed to enter via a barrier system.
Park at your own pace, take all the time you need with your luggage and stroll into the entrance in a relaxed airport experience, those three words usually never go together!
The Aether Experience
You’re greeted at the door by staff and enter the reception, it’s here where boarding passes and passports are dealt with for check-in.
Aether is much bigger than I was expecting with a lovely open-planned lounge with a direct view of the runway to see planes zipping around and landing. If you’re an aviation fan you’ll be at home here just watching all of the planes come in!
There are a variety of seating options and I was welcomed with a nice glass of Prosecco at 5 am (optional) ready for my 5-course (yes 5-course) breakfast.
The menu for breakfast has been curated by Adam Reid who also curated the menu for The French at The Midland Hotel, one of Manchester’s very own Michelin Star restaurants but I’m going to be brave when I say this.
Aether’s breakfast was far from Michelin star.
I’d seen so many good reviews of the breakfast online from numerous reviewers who had visited before myself yet when I finished my last course I realised one thing, it was all very… simple.
We started with a piece of fruit, then a croissant, then I had avocado on rye followed by stewed apple and granola and yoghurt and finally a smoothie shot with a small madeleine cake.
I’m sorry but if a Michelin Star curated chef did this menu they must have been having a lazy day as absolutely nothing in that line-up screams luxury or class.
Don’t get me wrong they were all very fresh but there wasn’t a single highlight amongst the entire 5-courses!
The piece of fruit was just a piece of fruit but because they’d slapped it on a block of ice with flowers in it, does that instantly make it better? No.
As equal to any croissant I’ve picked up at a foreign supermarket this tasted no different, granola is granola and the avocado on rye had more glooping of sauce on top of it that it was quite sickly and unpalatable the more you ate.
I feel for the steep price the menu should be the star of the show given the gap between the normal fast-track (a service Aether offers that doesn’t include lounge access and the meal) but sadly it was very basic and lacklustre.
What I will say is that the food delivery timings were perfect leaving adequate room between courses and you never felt rushed at any point. You are advised to arrive 3 hours before your flight time to fully enjoy the experience and aside from the mediocre menu, enjoy it I did.
Maybe the Lunch and Dinner menus are where Aether really shine?
A big shout-out to the staff for being attentive and for all being so friendly and lovely. Despite my underwhelming breakfast, the staff were impeccable and I couldn’t fault just how personable and approachable they were.
Private Security and Chauffeur
After checking out the lovely bathroom stocked full of Molton Brown products it was time for private security.
As I just had hand luggage the process was as simple as it gets, the bag goes through the machine, my body is scanned and there is no other human in sight holding me up.
After a quick bag check (yes, I was still chosen for a random bag check and I was the only person there, typical!) I was escorted to my fancy BMW vehicle and driven across the tarmac at Manchester Airport to my plane.
This was such a surreal and wonderful experience and was arguably one of the highlights of the entire experience.
Is Aether Worth the Cost?
There are three options that Aether offer including the fast-track service which skips the airport hustle and bustle and you head in the car to your plane, nice and easy.
Next, there are two more options which are for hand luggage only and then checked-bag luggage both of which include lounge access and the meal service.
At the time of writing, prices are £110 for express fast-track, £230 for cabin bags and £250 for checked bags.
Now these prices have gone up just weeks after Aether opened and I feel the old prices were much more reasonable.
I essentially paid £120 for lounge access and a 5-course meal and for the quality of food I wouldn’t have priced that at anything more than £50 and that’s being generous.
After seeing various photos of what people have had for dinner and lunch I feel the price is much more justified than the breakfast menu which was very poor indeed.
I’d maybe price the experience based on time and have the breakfast / early flight experience slightly cheaper than the rest but at the end of the day, you’re paying for exclusivity, privacy, and peace of mind at an airport before flying.
Can you put a price on peace of mind?
That’s for you to decide.
Check out https://experienceaether.com/ for more information on Aether, Manchester.
Great review. I have a very similar experience, although my breakfast was seven (yes, seven) courses and I thoroughly enjoyed it. We did try lunch on the way back and it was solid.
Did you find the lunch was better than the breakfast? Don’t get me wrong I enjoyed it but considering who curated it, I was just expecting a LOT more..
We’d eaten on the plane, so we didn’t have the whole X courses but I had the desert (great) and my wife had the main (also great). I guess it depends on what you compare it to, I’ve not had a lot of outstanding food in airports or planes and this is definitely better than almost every other lounge we’ve been in. The main draw for us was avoiding the madness on Manchester Airport!
That’s definitely one of the perks, it’s such an easy carefree airport experience and even better if you’re boarding a partner aircraft (Emirates etc) where you can just walk onto your plane as opposed to going through the gate. That’s next on the agenda when I next use them, such a great service!