Birmingham Airport passengers miss flights after ‘technical issue’ with security

Angry passengers at Birmingham Airport have told of long queues and missed flights after being held up by security for hours. A “technical issue” with the security tapes followed today, Monday, April 29.

One person was said to have collapsed in scenes labeled “disaster” and “absolute devastation”. The airport said the security issue “has aggravated the peak departure schedule and prevented their operation”.

One passenger posted: “After queuing for two hours at Birmingham airport I managed to get the staff to take me to security, only to miss my flight and for Ryanair to leave on time (for once) with a half-empty plan”.

READ MORE: Birmingham Airport passengers claim ‘chaos, confusion and massive queues’, BHX says ‘it’s the new normal’

Roger Burton, from Redditch, who missed his flight to Alicante after arriving at the airport three hours after departure, said the experiences were an “absolute torture”.

“I’m almost 80 years old and queuing for three hours is no fun,” he told the BBC. “They were standing upside down – one guy collapsed.”

Another passenger wrote: “Queues at Birmingham airport so slow we’re now on a plane ten minutes past departure time waiting for 80 more passengers stuck in queues.” Another passenger posted: “Absolutely shocking airport incompetence.

“I can’t process the number of passengers and yet after security the airport is empty. Birmingham Airport is always poor but they have managed to take it to a new low. Disaster. Many will miss flights.”

A spokesperson for Birmingham Airport told BirminghamLive: “We saw a busy Monday morning at Birmingham Airport with customers queuing downstairs which is the new normal as the upstairs waiting area has been taken out out of commission as we build our new security area.

“This morning we encountered a technical issue with our security lanes, which aggravated the peak departure schedule and prevented us from operating. We sincerely apologize to our customers for the level of service they received, this is not what we aim to provide here at Birmingham Airport.

“We would like to remind our customers that existing security restrictions remain in place. This can be confusing for our customers and on average 15% of bags are rejected because they don’t meet current security restrictions. For each customer, one non-compliant bag adds ten minutes to the security search time.

“As a reminder, customers taking liquids and electricals through security in their carry-on should follow these instructions.

1. Liquids, pastes and gels, up to 100ml, in 20 x 20cm resealable bags must be removed from the bags and placed in the security scanning tray

2. All electrical components must be removed from their housings and placed separately in the security scan tray

“The airport has been operating for 18 months and counting as we build for our future with a new security area. Waiting and walking routes are constantly changing, but our colleagues are around for any help and assistance in the terminal. We apologize to our customers for the impact this transition may have from time to time.”

London Stansted also had a partial power outage which affected check-in, security and baggage systems this morning.

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