Airport sorry for huge queues amid staffing shortage
BOSSES at Bristol Airport said they are working with airlines to sort out on the ongoing issues of long queues at the check-in and security gates that are regularly frustrating passengers – and have apologised to people left waiting for hours.
The airport is advising people to check with their airline what time the check in or bag-drop desk opens, and arrive at that time – and not to arrive too early.
Passengers arriving to fly out of Bristol early on Friday were met by huge queues in the departure area and for security, with one saying the airport was “bursting at the seams” at 4.30am.
Bristol Airport has a large number of flights scheduled each day in the hour after 6am, and has been advising passengers they could need to arrive up to three hours before, to get through the various check-ins and security gates.
The issues have seen queues of people so long they stretch out of the terminal building and down the road.
A spokesperson for Bristol Airport said they were doing everything they can to minimise the wait times, and that also involved working with the airlines to ensure they have enough people working to process people through quickly.
“We are sorry customers experienced an above average check-in and security queue [on Friday] morning during peak operation,” the spokesperson said.
“The maximum queue time at check-in did not exceed 75 minutes and security queue time did not exceed 35 mins.”
One of the biggest issues facing Bristol Airport – and a number of others across the country that have seen similar queues – is that the number of passengers heading out for holidays and flights is returning to pre-pandemic levels quickly, but recruitment of staff to work at the airport has not caught up.
The airport industry is facing a recruitment problem as staff who were laid off at the start of the pandemic have found other jobs and not returned.
“We work closely with all business partners and airline handling agents to ensure staffing levels are sufficient to provide a good service and our average queue time for security is 30 minutes,” the spokesperson added.
“We constantly review resourcing across all areas and adapt plans to meet demand and build in resilience where possible to ensure that service standards are consistent through the day.
“We appreciate the frustration experienced by customers currently and please be reassured our teams are working exceptionally hard to assist customers.
“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 checkin.”