Passengers forced to queue outside airports miss flights

HOLIDAYMAKERS were forced to queue for hours outside Birmingham and Manchester airports as the aviation sector continued to grapple with staff shortages.

Passengers described scenes of “absolute chaos” as they were told to wait outside the terminal buildings to prevent them from becoming “tangled” with check-in queues. Some missed their flights as a result of the delays.

It comes as the aviation sector continues to battle with staff shortages now that international travel has bounced back after the pandemic. Airports said they were rapidly hiring more staff but they are struggling to get security clearance quickly enough and are also dealing with high levels of staff absence because of coronavirus infections.

Passengers complained about the experience online. Rachael A wrote on Twitter that her sister missed an easyjet flight departing from Manchester Airport. “Absolute disgrace, my sister is in tears after missing her flight because of security. Begged security staff to fast track her through as gate was closing. No one cares. Disgrace!” she wrote.

Ben Leather, who was at Manchester Airport yesterday, said: “As a regular flyer I’ve never seen it this bad. Feel sorry for the overworked staff who clearly just don’t have the numbers to cope with the passenger load at the moment. Give yourself plenty of time to get through security if you’re flying any time soon.”

Birmingham Airport said queues were “long, but managed and moving”, while Manchester Airport said most

‘As a regular flyer I’ve never seen it this bad. Give yourself plenty of time if you’re flying any time soon’

passengers were passing security in 30-40 minutes but admitted that queues could be more than double that.

Birmingham Airport, which laid off nearly half of its employees during the pandemic, said: “Half of the 15,000 customers flying out… today were booked to depart in our busy dawn peak, so we took the decision to run security queues outside the terminal to avoid them getting tangled with check-in lines.”

Manchester Airport Group said: “The airport is continuing to advise customers to arrive three hours before their flights.”