Birmingham Airport queue chaos: passengers forced to wait outside terminal

Thousands of passengers flying from Birmingham Airport have been forced to queue outside the terminal for several hours as staff shortages continue to affect travel.

Many holidaymakers expressed their frustration this morning (Monday, May 9), taking photos showing long queues outside the terminal building and describing the situation as “absolute chaos” and “manic” by travellers.

One person said it took her “two hours to get through check-in and security”. Another just said it was “horrible”.

The queues have been blamed on a number of factors, including the time it takes for new ground staff to pass security clearance, staff sickness, a lack of Border Force officials and the spike in demand for travel following the end of the UK’s coronavirus restrictions.

This morning’s situation follows on from weeks of issues at the airport, with other passengers reportedly missing their flights over the May Day bank holiday weekend last week. A spokesman for the airport said they will look into the circumstances of anyone who missed their flight.

The airport has also stopped taking new bookings for fast-track security due to high demand.

The airport’s website shows that it is currently not possible to pay extra for the time-saving Express Lane at security, as the fast-track bookings at the airport are now fully subscribed.

Fast track bokngs are suspended for the foreseeable future, but the airport is still honouring existing fast track bookings.

What has the airport said about the queues?

Birmingham Airport said in a statement: “Half of the 15,000 customers flying out of BHX (Birmingham Airport) 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.

“Queues were long but managed and moving. We thank customers for their patience.

“As always, our message to departing customers is: Help us help you keep queues moving by removing any liquids, gels, pastes and electrical items from your bags before our security x-ray scanners.”

The airport said 43% of its employees were made redundant during the pandemic due to travel restrictions which were lifted in mid-February with no prior warning.

It added that it began a recruitment drive in November 2021.

New security officers are expected to be on duty soon after completing training.

British Airways and easyJet are continuing to cancel flights every day due to staffing issues.

It emerged over the weekend that easyJet is removing six seats from about 50 of its aircraft to enable it to operate them with three members of cabin crew rather than four, as the airline battles a shortage of staff.

Transport Secretary, Grant Shapps, is introducing a rule to allow new aviation recruits to begin training before passing security checks, to reduce the time it takes for them to start work.

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