What causes queues at Birmingham Airport?

Huge queues formed at Birmingham Airport on Friday amid apparent confusion over the 100ml liquid rule.

Footage taken on Friday morning showed hundreds of passengers queuing outside the airport due to security delays.

Some passengers described “chaotic” scenes outside the airport at 4am, while others said the huge lines were “embarrassing”.

The airport claimed the effectiveness of its scanning machines was affected by a “regulatory” issue, as well as further confusion over the rule preventing liquids over 100ml from entering hand luggage.

Here, Yahoo News UK explains the 100ml rule and what could be causing the queues.

What happened to the 100ml rule?

Airport security restrictions on liquids, gels and pastes in hand luggage were introduced in 2006 after a foiled terrorist plot to blow up planes flying from London to the US with homemade liquid bombs.

Travelers who don’t comply have since become one of the biggest causes of delays at airport security checks.

In August 2019, then-prime minister Boris Johnson set a December 2022 deadline for major airports to deploy new scanners that produce more detailed images, meaning passengers would be allowed to pass through airport security with containers containing up to two liters of liquid. hand baggage.

However, after the aviation industry suffered huge disruption due to travel restrictions related to COVID, in December 2022, Transport Secretary Mark Harper set a new date of June 1 this year to implement the new technology.

In April, amid a scramble by several major airports to install the scanners, known as state-of-the-art security checkpoints, Harper extended the deadline again, this time by another 12 months.

However, six smaller airports – London City, Teesside, Newcastle, Leeds-Bradford, Aberdeen and Southend – have already complied in time and as a result have dropped the old clearance rules.

Last Friday, however, the Department for Transport (DfT) unexpectedly announced that the old 100ml rule would be reinstated from Sunday.

Harper said: “We have reintroduced this rule while updates and changes are being made to airport scanning equipment to ensure we can continue to provide our world-leading levels of aviation security.”

But why has this affected Birmingham Airport?

Birmingham, like the six airports listed above, actually met the deadline to get the new screening machines up and running.

However, “exceptional regulatory approval” meant they were “limited” in their operation – and the 100ml limit remained.

But while nothing has changed, passengers have been facing queues at the airport since last weekend.

Airport CEO Nick Barton told Yahoo News UK: “The problem we have is that we were ready to use this (new screening system) but we don’t have a plan B, we can’t go back to our old system. system.

“We have to use the new system which is now constrained by government directive until the software checks they are doing are complete. Meanwhile, that means our cars aren’t as efficient or fast as they were designed to be.

“In the peaks we have queues, usually first thing in the morning. They are much longer than we would like, but everyone takes their flights. Most of the day we can measure the security queue in seconds.”

Asked how long queues can last, Barton did not say, but said the airport was “putting mitigation measures in place”, such as extra staff to ensure the 100ml rule was followed.

Barton previously said: “We constantly have non-compliant bags with liquids over the allowance, which has made our equipment inefficient and resulted in extended waiting times for customers.

“It is now imperative that all customers comply with the rule at national level to ensure a smoother and simpler transition through the airport. A non-compliant bag with liquids over 100ml can add up to 20 minutes to each passenger’s journey through security.”

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He also told the BBC this week that one in six passengers did not follow the rules, causing delays.

However, Rob Burgess, editor of travel website Head for Points, has cast doubt on this, saying the queues are likely to be linked to £300m of construction work at the airport.

“In reality, the delays are primarily due to major construction work taking place at the airport, which coincides with the first wave of summer holiday traffic. It’s hard to see it getting better while construction is going on.”

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