‘Dont arrive too early’ Airport plea after customers queue outside
BRISTOL Airport has urged passengers not to arrive too early after people were queuing outside arrivals to get to security on yesterday morning.
Several people took to social media to hit out at the queues which saw some people waiting for up to 90 minutes to get through.
One social media said the situation was “ridiculous” and that this was “the longest queue” he had seen in his life, while another described it as “absolute chaos”.
Josh Newton – who was flying to Dubrovnik, in Croatia – said they got to the airport at 5.30am and spent 80 minutes queueing.
Mr Newton, from Bristol, said he had used Bristol Airport many times, but that yesterday was the busiest he had seen it by far.
“It is organished chaos, it is very busy but well handled,” he said. “I have had worse in Israel.
“The staff were really good and kept people informed. People who had close flights were sent ahead. I wasn’t worried I would miss the flight, but I would have been if didn’t arrive very early.”
Earlier this week, people had to wait for hours to collect their bags, after a similar picture last weekend.
It is not the first time travellers have been forced to queue outside the building and this has happened on a number of occasions. It comes amid an exceptionally busy month for the airport.
A Bristol Airport spokesperson said: “We are sorry customers experienced an above average
check-in and security queue.
“The maximum queue time at check-in did not exceed 43 minutes and security queue time did not exceed 90 mins, no delays were experienced at bag-drop desks.
“We work closely with all business partners and airline handling agents to ensure staffing levels are sufficient to provide a good service
to passengers.
“We constantly review resourcing across all areas and adapt plans to meet demand and build in resilience where possible.
“We appreciate the frustration experienced by customers currently and please be reassured our teams are working exceptionally hard to assist customers throughout the airport journey.
“All business partners are continuing to recruit and train new colleagues, but this takes time. We advise all customers to check with the airline when their check-in/ bag drop desk opens and arrive in the terminal at this time – do not arrive too early as customers will not be able to check in.”