Queues at Birmingham airport ‘could be months and there aren’t enough staff’

An insider working at Birmingham Airport says there could be months of queues amid weeks of queue chaos. The employee, who asked not to be named, spoke amid a backlash from some passengers over ongoing queuing problems.

The employee claimed the airport was “underloaded”. He too said workers were “struggling” and “overworked”.

The BHX worker said passengers regularly complain to him about missed or delayed flights. He told BirminghamLive the situation was “very bad”, with low staffing levels and the time it took to complete the new security room upgrade believed to be the main cause.

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Airport bosses said in response that an “ongoing campaign to recruit security officers” was in place. They added that missed or delayed flights are “not necessarily” the airport’s fault.

The anonymous employee spoke after a month of travel problems at BHX, with passengers left frustrated by long security queues. Some reported missing flights, with one Spring Bank holiday tourist blasting airport operations as a “crap”.

Bosses previously admitted waiting times were longer than normal during peak periods such as the school term. Now, speaking exclusively to BirminghamLive, the employee has spoken out, saying: ‘It’s really bad downstairs – and upstairs too on departures.

“We can’t handle it. The main reason for this is the new security system.

“But the airport should have employed additional security personnel to prevent this from happening. We get a lot of delayed flights or customers miss their flights, which is very bad. Many of us are very overwhelmed right now.

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“It doesn’t seem like it’s slowing down. I think it’s going to stay that way until at least the end of August and into September.”

BHX completed its £60m “state-of-the-art” security hall upgrade in May, after months of construction, to allow passengers to carry up to two liters of liquids in their hand luggage. Despite the completed work, the airport said that “until further notice” passengers will be able to carry liquids of up to 100ml as “partial regulatory restrictions” have been put in place.

The airport said the upgrade would allow it to accommodate 18 million passengers by 2033. That would increase from 12 million today.

Statement from Birmingham Airport

A spokesman for Birmingham Airport said in response to the allegations: “The airport has invested £60m of privately funded money into our new security search area. This new facility has streamlined and simpler screening equipment to search customers’ bags.

“However, we cannot use the new screening equipment at full capacity at this time due to a partial regulatory restriction. This is beyond our control.

“The airport has continuously planned this transition from our old security area to our new one and considered the impact of construction work, new equipment and unfamiliar waiting areas. We have approximately one million passengers using our airport every month, most of whom have a good experience despite the ongoing construction work.

“In addition to the changes we made for our customers, we also took care of our colleagues. As part of the building work, a new peer support area has been created to include a large breakout area, dedicated toilets, a prayer room and a quiet room.

“We have worked with our teams since the beginning of development work, with colleagues contributing to the design of both the new security search room and their wellness area, and we continue to do so. We have an ongoing recruitment drive for security officers as the process is rightly long, with assessment centers and classrooms scheduled every month throughout the year to support the recruitment and training of new colleagues.”

Regarding passengers missing flights, the airport added: “There can be a number of reasons why customers miss flights – which are not necessarily attributable to the airport. Customers can contact us through our website with any concerns or questions and our agents will investigate. alongside our partner airlines.”

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