Posted on 06/08/2006 9:41:16 AM PDT by raccoonradio
MANCHESTER, N.H. --Before this week, Jim Hourihan of Liverpool, England, had never heard of Manchester, N.H. But thanks to a mix-up, he ended up there this week while trying to fly to another Manchester -- the one on the other side of the Atlantic.
(Excerpt) Read more at boston.com ...
Actually there are six Manchesters in New England alone... though the one in Mass. renamed itself Manchester-by-the-Sea.
btw, Manchester NH was orig. called Derryfield but renamed itself after the industrial city of Manchester, England
>>Hourihan said he liked Manchester, but felt it could use a few more pubs.
Maybe...I like the Strange Brew Tavern in "Manch-Vegas" myself...
>>Hourihan boarded a Continental Airlines flight in Los Angeles on Monday, but it wasn't until he got on a connecting flight in Cleveland -- a 50-seat regional jet -- that he realized he was headed to New England instead of jolly old England.
"When I first saw the plane I thought, 'That's not going to Manchester, England,'" Hourihan told WMUR-TV. "And it was then that it dawned on me. There must be two Manchesters."
Tuesday evening, after a stay in Manchester, Continental booked Hourihan on a flight to Newark, N.J., to connect with a flight home, at no extra charge, said Brian O'Neill, assistant director at Manchester Boston Regional Airport.
Hourihan said he liked Manchester, but felt it could use a few more pubs.
Even with the detour, Hourihan said he was having a great journey home.
"He did receive the VIP treatment while he was here," O'Neill said.
He said he learned Hourihan is not the first passenger to have landed in the wrong Manchester.
The mix-up came as the airport spreads the word about its new name. It's just added "Boston Regional" to the name, so Manchester pops up for travelers and agents looking to book flights to the Boston area.
Previously, he said, Manchester might not show up until on page 11 or 12 of a computer flight search, but now it sometimes appears on the first or second page.
And yet he boarded the plane anyway???
"•An astonishing 93% of the survey respondents had heard of the City of Boston and 76% of them knew that it was located in the State of Massachusetts.
"•Almost twice as many survey respondents said Manchester Airport was in England instead of New Hampshire."
Meanwhile, over in Maine...
Sure, a 50-seater can make it across the Atlantic, right? :)
May well be this gentleman should STAY OUT of those pubs until he gets home!
Didn't the price of the ticket tip him off?
I flew from Manchester, NH to Nashville last year, and next week I'm flying from Manchester to Pittsburgh. A nice small airport--cheaper parking rates than Logan in Boston, etc.
It would take me just as long to drive the 53 miles to Manchester, NH as it would to go into Boston (24 miles, but much heavier traffic).
I'm sure he was alarmed when he found the plane from Cleveland to "Manchester, England" was landing after only an hour or two!
When I was flying (Southwest Airlines) back from Nashville
to Manchester, it was the Friday of July 4th weekend. As we landed, a stewardess (flight attendant, whatever) got on the loudspeaker and not only wished us a happy 4th of July weekend, but she also asked us to remember the true meaning of being an American; how lucky we are to live in this great country--and she sang "God Bless America"! We all applauded.
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