Businessmen use Scalextric in Manchester Airport lounge

Over 100,000 passengers are expected to use the new Escape Lounge

High-flying businessmen and women are passing the time in Manchester Airport's new passenger lounge racing each other on a Scalextric track.

For a fee, well-heeled passengers flying in and out of Terminal 1 can avoid the busy terminal hall by retiring to the £1.7m Escape Lounge, which opened on 1 July 2010.

The lounge is designed principally to cater for the needs of business passengers and offers free Wi-Fi and private rooms for high-powered meetings.

However, the luxury lounge has also been fitted out with executive toys including an electric race car track.

'Popular'

It was winner stays on earlier and this one bloke won five races on the trot and was almost going to miss his flight to Abu Dhabi! Tane Page, passenger

Matt Etchells, Project Manager for Manchester Airport, said: "There are certain things you come to expect from an airport lounge such as free Wi-Fi, drinks, food, a relaxing environment and of course we have all these covered.

"But we also wanted the lounge to be a fun place, for business and leisure passengers alike. We have a PS3 and a Wii in our Attic area, but we couldn't resist going for a Scalextric too."

He added that the electric slot car racing toy was already proving popular with business passengers.

"In fact it's proving really hard to get adults off it to let the kids have a go," he added.

Passenger Tane Page from Prestwich said: "I've not seen Scalextric since I was a kid, but that racetrack is literally amazing. It's miles better than anything I had in my bedroom!

I've already seen things getting a bit competitive: it was winner stays on earlier and this one bloke won five races on the trot and was almost going to miss his flight to Abu Dhabi!

Imagine telling your boss you didn't make your meeting because you were racing Scalextric."

Toy Stories

Interest in Scalextric soared after it was featured in James May's Toy Stories shown on BBC Two in November 2009.

The Top Gear presenter, along with 400 volunteers, pieced together 20,000 sections to create a 2.75 mile track around the banked Brooklands race circuit in Surrey, setting a world record.

The new Terminal 1 Escape Lounge at Manchester Airport, which opened on 1 July 2010, was initially announced in April 2010 as part of improvements worth £80m across its three terminals.

Over 100,000 passengers are expected to use the facility each year.