Birmingham Airport boss: Gov’s return causes long security waits

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The boss of Birmingham Airport has hit back at criticism of long waits for security queues – saying a last-minute decision by the government has created “a very difficult situation for us”.

Many passengers complained of long queues at the checkpoint, resulting in some travelers missing their flights.

Chief executive Nick Barton says most passengers get through security in less than half an hour, with extra procedures in place to deal with peaks.

The West Midlands hub was the only major airport in the UK to meet the 1 June 2024 deadline to install ‘Next Generation’ security scanners.

The scanners are designed to allow security staff to get a much clearer picture of any potentially threatening items in passengers’ carry-on bags – and to allow travelers to carry much larger quantities of liquids, aerosols and gels (“LAGs”) through control point than the 100 ml. container limit.

Birmingham Airport has invested £60 million in new equipment ahead of the summer peak. The intention was to speed up the security process. But Department for Transport (DfT) officials did not approve a relaxation of the liquids limit – and then reverted to the previous 100ml limit nationwide.

As a result, many more bags than expected are rejected and taken out for a hand search.

“Unfortunately, unforeseen events got in the way of a good strategy and created a very difficult situation for us here in Birmingham,” Mr Barton said. The Independent.

“We’re still grappling with the consequences of these changes, but we’re working on our plan to make things better.”

Barriers have been erected outside the terminal to allow ‘pre-screening’ at peak times – in a bid to reduce the number of bags being rejected at the checkpoint.

The airport’s CEO said: “Passengers’ level of travel anxiety is over the top. We have to try to bring that into a reality that people are much more comfortable with. The way we try to do that is to focus on simple messages.

“Three-hour queues are not a thing that happens here.

“The main thing is to go to the airport when the airline at the airport tells you that check-in is open, even if you don’t have a checked bag to check in.

“Get here usually about three hours before your flight departs, which is in line with all airline guidance.

“This morning for example, a very busy day, the peak queue and the busiest time of the day was 50 minutes.

“The average queue was 24 minutes, very different from what many people think and worry about.

“If you come according to these rules on time, you probably need to be prepared in the “peak” for a queue of 40-50 minutes.

“It can be a lot faster than that, and the rest of the day is definitely a lot faster than that.”

Mr Barton rejected the allegation that he blamed the passengers for breaching security limits.

“I don’t blame the passengers for that,” he said. “This is a rule that has always struggled to gain traction.”

Even though the airport still has the older security equipment on site, Mr Barton said operationally it cannot be put into operation.

“Once you’re committed, you’re committed, you can’t go back.

“This is a software issue, and once that’s resolved, the machines we have can just be reprogrammed and we can start using them.

“The product we invested in is superb. Once it is allowed to be used to its full potential, we will be proud of this airport in terms of its performance, but also the customer experience that is ensured.

“So I’m not worried about the medium or long term future. Clearly, however, the focus today is on mitigating the consequences of this change.

“We are putting our passengers through a challenge that none of us wanted and we are upset every day that this is so. But this will pass.”

When the DfT made the U-turn, a spokesman said “the 100ml restrictions on liquids will be temporarily reintroduced”.

They said: “This temporary move is to allow further improvements to the new checkpoint systems and will only affect a small number of passengers. For most passengers, security measures will remain unchanged.

“Passengers should continue to check security requirements with their departure airport before traveling.”

No date has been set for a possible relaxation of the liquids rule.