More hell at Birmingham Airport with households caught in large strains
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Passengers were faced with huge queues at Birmingham Airport in yet another chaotic morning, following the reintroduction of the 100ml liquid rule.
Travellers shared footage of families queuing around the car park early this morning, with some passengers appearing to be standing under a temporary cover.
Others reported waiting for several hours to clear security at 5.30am, with some concerned the long delays would mean they would miss their flights.
Another video showed staff sectioning off parts of the queue, which was also shown snaking around the terminal.
It comes amid several days of chaos at the west midlands airport, after the Government temporarily reversed plans to scrap the 100ml liquid limit in hand luggage.
Passengers were standing in huge queues in yet another chaotic morning at Birmingham Airport following the government’s reintroduction of liquid rules
Queues were shown winding around the terminal as staff attempted to control the flow of passengers
Some reported waiting as long as two hours to clear security at 5.30am this morning
Some anxious passengers wrote that they were concerned they would miss their flights and complained at the lack of staff present
Passengers on long-haul flights were advised to arrive as much as four hours in advance of their departure time to check in.
The ongoing disruption has sparked fears that delays could continue for months, with insiders claiming the airport is ‘understaffed’ and staff are being ‘overworked’.
One panicked passenger who just made their flight after standing in lines for over two hours, wrote: ‘Well that was eventful. After 2h of queuing to security, 2x jumps in the queue and a sprint that counts as a workout, I made it to the plane.’
Another said: ‘What an absolute shit show @bhx_offical is. Chaotic queue, very few staff present. Scanners that isolate bags as they don’t work properly. This is meant to be an improvement.’
Rules were due to be relaxed to allow passengers to carry liquids of up to two litres in their hand luggage from June 1.
Currently, all UK airports have been required to revert to the 100ml liquid rule, including those that have already installed new scanners
Airports, including Birmingham, London City and Newcastle had already dropped the rule having installed new high tech CT scanners capable of creating a 3D image of inside passengers’ bags.
Larger airports, including Manchester, Gatwick and Heathrow were permitted to miss the deadline for installing the new equipment following logistical issues.
But following the Government U-turn, all airports were required to revert to the original limit.
The airports with next generation scanners that had to change their policy as a result were London City, Aberdeen, Newcastle, Leeds/Bradford, Southend and Teesside.
Birmingham airport had already been told to keep the 100ml ban while it waited for regulatory approval after installing its new £60million security screening hall, which included the new high tech scanners.
