Project Servator provides reassuring presence at Manchester Airport

Project Servator has been keeping people safe at Manchester Airport for five years.

Servator is a national policing tactic that aims to disrupt a range of criminal activity and provide a reassuring presence for the public in areas of large footfall.

Neighbourhood Sergeant Jonathan Seeds said: “Project Servator is delivered across GMP by specially trained officers at significant events and locations, and first started at Manchester Airport in 2018.

“The unpredictable deployments happen at any time of the day and night and utilise plain clothes and uniformed officers from the airport’s Neighbourhood Policing Team.

“Deployments include specialist assets, from firearms officers to police dogs, and use a partnership approach, working with Manchester Airport, British Transport Police, Border Force, Manchester City Council, and Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency to maintain a safe environment in and around the transport network at the airport.

“The airport is like its own mini police force within GMP with neighbourhood officers, response teams, an intelligence unit, planners, our own CID and, uniquely at GMP, armed and unarmed officers.

“Our main aim is to keep people safe, including people who are travelling through and the people who work at the airport.

“There are a large number of businesses in and around the airport, including shops and hotels, and we are also right on the edge of a major traffic network.

“Servator can take place in the terminal buildings, around the shops or the road network.”

Around 26 million passengers passed through the airport in the last 12 months with 2.5m in May 2023.

A Manchester Airport spokesperson said: “As the UK’s global gateway in the North, tens of thousands of passengers start their holidays from Manchester Airport every day – and thankfully incidents of criminal or anti-social behaviour remain rare.

“We want all passengers coming through the airport, whether they’re coming for a family holiday or a business trip, to feel safe and reassured – and Project Servator plays a vital part in that.”