Birmingham Airport passengers blast ‘chaos’ at security gates as others blame ‘selfish’ travellers.

Coventry Live readers have thanked a couple who shared their experience of long queues at Birmingham Airport, describing it as “disgusting”. Early on the morning of June 9, Wes and Pete tweeted/X at 5:18 a.m. showing the crowd of passengers lined up outside the airport for security. Their initial tweet read: “Let’s see how fast we go.”

The queue was so long that they almost missed their flight to Cyprus. After lining up outside, they finally made it inside the building at 6:07 a.m., only to find an even longer line waiting for them. After a grueling wait of an hour and 45 minutes, they “almost made it.”

Birmingham Airport has come under fire this week after photos of long queues emerged on social media. Airport officials indicated that the delays may be due in part to passengers not complying with baggage regulations, potentially adding 20 minutes to the security process for each traveler. The problem has been exacerbated by a recent government directive temporarily reintroducing the ban on liquids over 100ml in hand luggage. Readers have shared their experiences in our comments section.

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Littlebird’s comment is frustrated: “Had the same thing last year, almost missed the flight, but not to this extent! Huge queues need someone to manage them, so departing flights are dealt with first. If the fluid system is not yet operational, discard your fluids. It’s different for people on medication and for babies. Stop blaming the passengers, this has been going on for years and it’s getting a lot worse by the looks of it. Managers should be able to solve problems and solve the problem! It’s not a good read that this can go on for another 6 months and I bet this goes beyond that!”

Reader Mart1n agrees: “Only an incompetent management team would continue to point the finger of blame at paying customers instead of looking inward to find the real reasons for the delays. It is clear to anyone visiting BHX that there are far too few staff and they are poorly motivated. It is the management’s duty to remedy the deficiencies.”

Tryharder writes: “Is this chaos any wonder? For months, BHX has been beating their own drum that their “new” security system will go live on June 1st, streets ahead of other major airports. No mention of renovations, including the removal of escalators, or that they are still awaiting regulatory approvals. This is simply due to mismanagement, misjudgment and misinformation. Also, why don’t the holiday companies (TUI, Jet2 etc) inform their customers? Some heads need rolling!”

Thors says: “The airport management team are totally incompetent – ​​plain and simple!! Management should look at Edinburgh airport where the security hall is running efficiently, primarily due to staff constantly shouting instructions to passengers BEFORE presenting bags to the scanners. Staff in Birmingham are just waiting for non-compliant bags to fail in the scanners, causing extensive delays.”

New York11 thinks: I’m totally confused now! It would help passengers and BHX security if BHX would CLEARLY make public what the new rules actually are – instead of rushing to automatically blame their customers! Passengers are advised by airlines to arrive within 3 hours. before departure – however ground staff for some airlines often don’t open desks until 2 hours before, exacerbating queues!”

Denblue agrees and points out “Why mess with something if it works? They spent 60 million and they can’t use the scanners, I wonder who will pay for this? Oh let me guess… Passengers!!!”

ASHY87 thinks differently: “If people followed the rules, this wouldn’t happen. A word SELFISH”

On Facebook, some commenters are facing the same problems: Pietro Cardente says: “Chaos reigns. I passed yesterday around 2 pm. Queues, airlines that seem to be getting stricter with hand luggage, a single guy handling the queue for oversized luggage – and then when you get through security, it’s overcrowded and worse than Christmas Arena. I’ve been flying BHX for 35 years and I’ve never seen such carnage.”

Ammo LG says though: “They are making changes to improve the airport system, so expect some temporary inconvenience. Don’t expect a gold-plated Unicorn glitter service. I flew in this morning. Yes, there were queues, but they moved quickly. Give yourself enough time.”

A spokesman for Birmingham Airport said: “Since our new security area opened in May, we have seen continuous non-compliant bags going through security, causing unnecessary queues and delays to customers’ journeys. This new step in the process is to eliminate the problem before customers move on.”

“Now more than ever, it’s imperative that customers follow the 100ml rule. This additional level of control risks slowing down the security process without passenger support.”

They added: “For customers who are less able to stand for periods of time, we advise them to book the assisted travel service. However, if a customer is queuing during our peak times and feels they need assistance, then our customer ambassadors are in the area and can help them without losing their place in line.”

Have you been affected by queues at Birmingham Airport? Share your experiences in our comments section.

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