View 5 Images

Our bags were packed, our boarding passes were ready and our excitement had peaked. Our festive trip to Cologne had been planned for months, and we were little more than 24 hours away from jetting off.

So an email from Ryanair , with the subject ALL IN CAPITAL LETTERS to emphasise its significance, was a bit unnerving. It had the appearance of an email that was about to ruin my week.

"IMPORTANT INFORMATION REGARDING YOUR FLIGHT," the subject read. Were our dreams of Kölsch, culture and glühwein-fuelled merriment about to go up in smoke?

Thankfully, the flight hadn't been cancelled. Instead, the email simply told us where we needed to go when we arrived at Manch ester Airport , which is in the midst of a £1.3 billion transformation . View 5 Images

Under Manche

See Full Page