Every twist and turn of the mesmerising journey your luggage takes through Manchester Airport

The bowels of Manchester Airport hide a crucial operation all families depend upon for their holidays and getaways.

Away from the eyes of passengers, the airport's snaking network of luggage conveyer belt systems operate 24 hours a day everyday - taking suitcases, golf clubs, baby buggies and other precious cargo to planes ready for loading.

Once checked-in and labelled, our belongings disappear and usually aren't thought of again until landing.

READ MORE: Former Rochdale footballer Joe Thompson reveals he's fighting cancer for a third time

Now the airport has revealed it's invested in a multi-million pound new state-of-the-art baggage conveyance system - and lifted the lid on exactly what happens when the check-in desk conveyer belt curtains close over our bags.

From 2025, and after a huge transformation programme, the airport's Terminal 2, which will more than double in size, will serve around 70 per cent of all the airport's passengers, with the old T1 then closing.

Bosses said that in order to provide a 'seamless service', the vast new conveyor belt system has been built by Dutch specialists Vanderlande specifically for the airport. Incredibly, it features more than two miles of conveyor belts and can process 3,000 bags per hour.

The baggage conveyer belt system went live at the start of March and according to the airport's figures, it has already processed more than 100,000 bags through to planes.

The maximum distance a bag can travel at the airport from check-in to being taken onto an aircraft is some 582 metres – equivalent to the length of almost six football pitches.

And on average, a bag will take around 10 minutes to get through the system before being picked up by ground handling agents and put onto an