‘BIBLICAL QUEUES’ AT THE AIRPORTS
Three-hour waits in bank hols misery Ryanair chief calls for Army to help out
PASSENGERS told of “biblical queues” snaking a long way outside airports as the half-term holiday crisis continued yesterday.
Delays of up to three hours were reported at Manchester and Bristol airports and up to two hours at Birmingham and Heathrow.
And at Leeds Bradford Airport, holidaymakers stood in a long line outside the terminal at 4am.
One passenger held up there, retired Police Chief Supt Owen West, said: “Biblical queues. Once in, out of the rain, it’s right around the inside of the building to get to the security queue.”
But those hoping to have an easier time of it with a staycation also faced queues on the roads.
There were long jams on the M25 near Egham, Surrey, and on the M6 after an early morning crash near Lancaster.
Traffic was also “stop-start” on the M5 between Devon and Somerset.
As passengers scrambled to get away for the long bank holiday weekend, Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary called for the Army to be brought in to clear the queues and prevent further airport congestion over the summer.
He said: “Bringing in the Army, which they do at many other European airports, would at a stroke relieve the pressure on airport security.
“And it would mean that people have a much better experience – not just this weekend, but for each weekend over the next three, four months.”
But Jet2 boss Steve Heapy blamed other airlines for not anticipating a postpandemic surge in demand.
He said: “We’ve been recruiting since September last year. We didn’t wait for the bounce back. I think the problem is perhaps that some people waited for the bounce back and started recruiting then, which is too late.”
He also criticised firms providing baggage handling, security checks, catering and other support services at airports.
He said: “All the other people in the airport operation need to up their game, get people in and start getting some good customer service.”
In an interview with Travel Weekly, he added: “We had the trouble at Manchester, you saw the TUI queues, they were massive, and that caused the whole airport to clog up. And our flights were affected because of that.
“The bag system was loaded up because other airlines’ ground handlers didn’t have enough staff.
“We did, [we had] our own ground handlers, our own operation, but the bag belts were completely clogged and we couldn’t get our own bags off. “So we’re in a situation where other companies are causing us problems.”
Fed-up travellers have endured long delays, cancelled flights and lost luggage this week, caused by staff shortages across the industry.
In Manchester, passengers returning to the UK were pictured clambering through luggage carousel curtains to find their bags.
One woman at the airport there said: “Passengers got annoyed because they could not get any answers. “People were climbing and crawling through the curtain on the carousel belt trying to find their own luggage. The bags were there, but there was no one to put them on the carousel.”
The UK chaos has been blamed on a shortage of staff after more than 30,000 workers were laid off as flights were grounded during the pandemic.
Bringing in the Army would at a stroke relieve the pressure on airport security
MICHAEL O’LEARY RYANAIR BOSS CALLS FOR ACTION