Video footage captured the extent of queues at Birmingham Airport today as thousands of passengers waited to jet off to the sun. Footage taken on Good Friday, April 15, showed hundreds of disgruntled passengers queuing to enter security.
With reportedly only one escalator working, big lines snaked from one check-in zone all the way to the other. Nottinghamshire resident Shane Crossland, who captured the mayhem on his phone, said: “This is downstairs before we even get upstairs – at least 2,000 folk queuing the full length of the airport.”
Shane told NottinghamshireLive it would be a “miracle” if he managed to make his flight. Emily Reed, also flying from BHX this morning, tweeted she had ” never seen queues like it”.
READ MORE: ‘Never seen queues like it’ – Chaos at Birmingham Airport as thousands join Easter getaway
She said staff were “doing their best” considering “only one escalator” was open to take passengers to security. Emily added: “I spoke to a couple going to Cancun. They arrived here at 6am, and it has taken two hours to get through security (despite booking FastTack).
“If you’re flying from BHX today, tell police and airport staff which flight you’re on in case they need to move you further up in the queue.”
The airport is struggling to keep up with customer demand after making 43 per cent of its staff redundant during the pandemic.
But a recruitment drive has been launched in hope of boosting security staff numbers. BHX is also deploying existing staff in ‘support roles’ to provide extra help in areas struggling.
The airport said today: “Another busy start with thousands of customers booked to fly out of BHX today, April 15. Once people cleared our boarding pass gate, average wait times for security this morning ranged from 15 minutes to just over half-an-hour as queues ebbed and flowed. “
“Yesterday, April 14, 14,500 customers flew out of BHX. Of those, 82 per cent were through security in under 20 minutes and 63 per cent in under ten minutes.”
Have you been hit with delays at Birmingham Airport? Let us know in the comments below.
