OUT OF LINE
Brit holidaymakers face Malaga airport mayhem as screaming passengers kick down barriers in mutiny over Covid queues
BRIT holidaymakers are facing chaos at Malaga airport after passengers staged a mutiny over long Covid queues.
Angry Spaniards were filmed shouting ‘Fuera fuera’ - meaning ‘Get Out Get Out’ - allegedly kicking down barriers to leave the arrivals area in front of astonished UK travellers.
8
8
8
Witnesses claimed today that some frustrated tourists had taken matters “into their own hands” after being forced to wait “forever” to be waived through by police and other officials checking passenger locator forms.
Jim Ramsden, one of the Brits who posted footage of the chaos on social media, said: “It was arrivals at 11.30pm last night and it was all nationalities who just got fed up standing in a queue that wasn’t moving.”
Mejulie Traynor, who was also in the queue, added: “I was there too but I behaved myself and queued for an hour.”
Another Brit caught up in the late-night chaos branded the scenes “crazy.”
The noise levels appeared to leave many Brits in shock.
Most read in News Travel
One was overheard muttering under his breath as he watched the passenger revolt: "They’ve given up waiting haven’t they? People are just going for it.
“Shall we join them? Am I going to get shot by a Spanish policeman if I do?”
Several officials appeared to be trying to restore order by blowing their whistles amid the tourist surge at the airport, one of Spain’s busiest passenger airports at this time of the year.
Welcome to Covid screening @MalagaAirport. Minutes later people knocked down the barriers. Absolute carnage.
Rachel O’Shea
A woman could also be heard shouting "me too" repeatedly in broken English as she appeared to row with queue-jumpers.
Tweeting footage of new arrivals on escalators as they waited their turn to be seen, traveller Pierce O’Riordan raged: “At an absolute standstill here in Malaga airport.
“The queue hasn’t moved for 15 minutes and it is boiling.”
Another witness, Rachel O’Shea also tweeted a video of the long queues, writing in a sarcastic message along the footage: “Welcome to Covid screening @MalagaAirport."
She added: “Minutes later people knocked down the barriers. Absolute carnage.”
Angry Spaniards could be overheard shouting, in reference to the complete lack of social distancing: “There’s no Covid here is there! Shame on you."
There was no immediate comment from airport chiefs.
ONGOING CHAOS
It comes after ongoing problems at London’s Heathrow Airport, with queues lasting hours at Manchester and Luton.
A pregnant woman was said to have fainted on Sunday as pensioners and families with babies were forced to queue for up to five hours during a fifth day of Heathrow chaos.
Luton Airport has also been affected, just hours after passengers at Manchester waited up to five hours to pass through border control.
Passengers have already faced problems at Luton this year, with two hour queues at the border last month.
However, Luton Airport claimed that it was due to the additional Covid checks required at the border, adding: "Border Force is responsible for this part of the journey and we continue to work with them to ensure wait times are reduced as much as possible."
'AM I GOING TO GET SHOT?'
Frustrated Heathrow passengers faced "horrific" queues for a sixth day running on Monday with chaos also spreading to Manchester Airport.
Holidaymakers waited to get through border control for hours due to a passenger backlogs and strict Covid checks.
Issues with eGates and staffing have also caused havoc for Brits returning home, with one weary traveller saying: "Still horrific queues at Heathrow’s T3 this morning. It’s inhumane to force the disabled and children especially to stand for hours!
"Where’s the promised improvement?"
Queues at Manchester Airport led to suitcases piling on conveyor belts and the floor, with one holidaymaker telling Sky News he saw a pregnant woman pass out while in the queue on Friday night.
Other images showed a man who had passed out face down in the long queues.
The airport confirmed they have asked Border Force to investigate the delays, which they admitted were "longer than usual".
Earlier this summer, Lucy Moreton head of ISU immigration union previously warned they were "not set up to cope with that demand".
READ MORE SUN STORIES
She said: “There is no way that the border can maintain that level of checks as the number of travellers increase. We’ve got away with it so far because the number of travellers are so low.
“But even at this point we’re seeing queues of one to two hours. From the number of bookings we’ve seen already, we’ll easily see three, four-hour queues when people start returning.”
8
8
8
8
8
Holiday chaos as queues hit Heathrow, Manchester AND Luton – with 5-hour waits and passengers fainting
Topics