According to Birmingham Live, the airport has been plagued by major delays over the last few months, with staff-cut BHX struggling to cope with an increase in customer demand now that Covid restrictions have been lifted. This morning, passengers flying from the airport have taken to social media to share snaps of crowded check-in halls, with some reporting one-hour waiting times.
A BHX spokesman said, when asked about the delays this morning: “Our operation ran steadily this morning as we helped around half of the 15,600 customers booked to depart BHX today.”
According to chief executive Nick Barton, new security personnel should be in place by the end of May which will help with future delays.
However, guests travelling today have said that it is like ‘hell’ waiting to get through queues. Holidaymaker James Bovill, a BBC Midlands Today journalist, tweeted: “Welcome to hell. And this is just the check-in area. An hour in this TUI queue.
“Appreciate it’s peak time, but can’t help but think there’s a more efficient way of managing these crowds. Next comes security!”
Travellers who have made it through security reported it took them around 50 minutes, Birmingham Live reports. One such passenger, Ian Really, said: “The entire process to clear security took 45 minutes and 1,700 steps. Pretty good for a Monday.”
Birmingham Airport later commented on the delays, saying: “We’d like to thank customers who took a moment today to say ‘thank you,’ either in person or on social media, to our hardworking terminal colleagues. This means a lot as we work hard to recover our staffing numbers and service levels following a bruising couple of years for the aviation sector.
“As always, we ask customers to arrive at the airport at the time your airline advises – and to 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.”
