The 300-seat Belle Vue brings an all-day pub offer to Terminal 2 and marks the final planned new eatery in the airport’s decade-long £1.5bn redevelopment.
The Belle Vue, Manchester Airport’s first JD Wetherspoon pub, has opened after security in Terminal 2.
- The Belle Vue has opened after security in Manchester Airport Terminal 2 as the airport’s first JD Wetherspoon pub.
- The 300-seat venue is expected to create around 150 jobs and serves food until 10:00 p.m.
- Its design draws on Manchester’s sporting heritage and the historic Belle Vue showground.
- The opening is the final planned new eatery in Terminal 2 and one of the closing milestones in Manchester Airport’s decade-long £1.5bn transformation.
(NEWS) MANCHESTER, England, United Kingdom, 2026-Sep-16 — /Travel PR News/ — Manchester Airport has opened its first JD Wetherspoon pub, adding a 300-seat venue to Terminal 2 as the airport moves through the final stages of its decade-long transformation programme.
The Belle Vue welcomed its first customers on September 15 and sits after security in the redeveloped terminal. According to Manchester Airport’s opening announcement, the pub is the final planned new eatery in Terminal 2 and is expected to create around 150 jobs.
For passengers, the opening adds another early-to-late food and drink option in the terminal. Manchester Airport says the pub will trade from the first flight until the final flight each day, with food served until 10:00 p.m. Wetherspoon’s current venue listing shows opening hours of 4:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. seven days a week.
A Manchester identity built into the design
The pub takes its name from the historic Belle Vue showground and draws on the city’s sporting history for its interior theme. The airport says the design includes vintage event posters and memorabilia, a “locker wall” displaying trophies and sporting exhibits, and cricket references worked into the carpets and bar panels.
The original Belle Vue Zoological Gardens opened in 1836 and developed into one of northern England’s best-known entertainment complexes, later hosting speedway and greyhound racing. Wetherspoon references that history in its own description of the new airport pub.
Richard Jackson, Retail Director at Manchester Airport, said the opening was a significant moment because it completes the planned new retail and hospitality line-up in Terminal 2. He also highlighted the venue’s references to Manchester heritage as part of the terminal’s broader local identity.
Pub manager Jenny Warburton said her team was ready to welcome passengers and positioned The Belle Vue as an addition to the airport’s existing hospitality offer.
Another closing milestone for Terminal 2
The opening comes near the end of Manchester Airport’s £1.5bn, decade-long Terminal 2 transformation. The airport says the redevelopment has more than doubled the terminal’s size and established it as the main focal point of the northern hub.
The terminal has also received international design recognition. In 2023, the UNESCO-recognised Prix Versailles programme named Manchester Airport Terminal 2 among the world’s most beautiful airport terminals, citing its interior design and architectural approach.
The Belle Vue follows a series of retail and food openings intended to broaden the passenger offer in the expanded terminal. Its arrival also gives one of Britain’s best-known pub operators a presence at Manchester Airport for the first time.
The opening is a later milestone in a project first detailed publicly in June, when the airport announced the Belle Vue name, concept and planned September launch. With the doors now open, the focus shifts from the planned venue to day-to-day passenger use as Terminal 2’s new food and retail programme reaches completion.
