I RECENTLY returned from a trip to Madeira.

This gave me the opportunity to compare the arrival facilities at Funchal airport, which is regarded as a provincial Portugese airport, and those at Manchester Airport Terminal 2, which local politicians would have us believe merits the grandiose term "International" in its title.

The following come to mind most readily:- 1. At Funchal having disembarked among the last few passengers the luggage carousel was loaded with baggage which passengers were already collecting. The whole process taking a few minutes only.

At T2 MIA, again disembarking last, the luggage carousel was rotating but carried no baggage whatever. After about 10 minutes the carousel stopped rotating. After a further 10 minutes it restarted and baggage appeared sporadically. Our baggage was among the last items to appear.

At Funchal there are several blocks of seating in the carousel hall which are very useful to persons with physical problems. There are also many smart airport staff to assist if needed.

At T2 MIA carousel hall there is no seating whatever. The only "staff" person we could see was a wheelchair pusher from the airport services company.

At Funchal I loaded our baggage onto a single trolley which was very manoeuvrable and had a brake which was on until the brake handle was lifted. It was therefore extremely easy to load the trolley and manoeuvre it on the level, tiled floors and walkways.

At T2 MIA we needed two trolleys, each of which required the deposit of a £1 coin, to carry the baggage. The loaded trolleys are extremely difficult to manoeuvre especially on the sloping pavements near the taxi stand. Less able bodied persons could sustain injury (eg hernia) such is the effort required to prevent a trolley rolling off the pavement and onto the roadway.

Because the trolley brake is off until the handle is manually lifted the trolley must be restrained or the slightest slope will cause it to run away and risk injury or damage.

Emerging from Funchal there were dozens of Mercedes yellow cabs. A driver immediately pulled his cab forward, loaded our baggage, an attendant took the trolley, and we were on our way in a few moments.

At T2 MIA we were the only passengers requiring a cab by the time we got out but there were no cabs at all. We waited about seven minutes for a cab to arrive. It was then necessary to return the trolleys.

If MIA is ever to earn its "International" tag those who now run it will have to ensure it is properly managed whilst also rectifying the errors and omissions of specification and design they have inherited.

Name and address supplied