Gatwick hires 400 staff to ease delays

GATWICK has hired hundreds of new security staff in a last-ditch effort to avoid the repeat of travel chaos witnessed at airports up and down the country.

Some 400 workers have been cleared by a government-sponsored vetting process to cut down waiting times at the UK’S second busiest airport.

The hiring spree takes the airport from 600 to 1,000 security personnel.

With schools breaking up for the summer holidays tomorrow, airports and airlines fear that they could be overwhelmed as families jet off abroad following two years of Covid restrictions.

Gatwick last month announced it would limit the number of flights it could serve to 825 per day in July, rising to 850 in August.

Prior to the pandemic, more than 900 flights regularly flew in and out of Gatwick during the peak summer season. A dearth of security staff at airports up and down the country was blamed for chaotic scenes in many locations during the Easter holidays.

Grant Shapps, the Transport Secretary, has since claimed he has addressed the problems by agreeing to fast-track a security and vetting process that is overseen by the Government.

Gatwick suffered the most number of cancellations in June, according to aviation data company Cirium.

Some 430 departures were cancelled – nearly 4pc of all flights – higher than the 352 culled at larger rival Heathrow.

Adrian Witherow, Gatwick operating chief, said: “With passenger numbers rapidly returning to 2019 levels, we expect to be busy, particularly at peak times such as weekends and the forthcoming school summer holidays.”

Toothpaste, Vaseline, cigarette lighters, inhalers and hand sanitiser are the top five items for which travellers are most regularly rejected during checks of hand luggage.