Bank holiday warning as Brits face travel chaos ALREADY
BRITS are already facing huge queues as families try to escape for the bank holiday weekend.
Passengers at Manchester Airport were seen in long queues at check in at Terminal 1 as early as 3am.
One person wrote on Twitter: "This is why Manchester Airport is one of the worst in the world. Been queuing for 3 hours to get onto flight: people that arrive late are shown to front of the queue. 3 security desks open. Disgusting."
Another person said: "@manairport you keep delivering, 1 hour and we have moved 10 feet. This is just madness now."
A third claimed: "@manairport anyone going to the airport this morning. Expect to queue. Wife has just got through passport control after waiting for 2 hours and she only had a small hand bag. Wife never complains about anything but even she said it’s a JOKE."
However, Manchester Airport refute these claims, saying that queue times were up to 90 minutes this morning, and have since dropped to just 30 minutes.
A Manchester Airport spokesperson said: “We apologise to passengers who have encountered longer queues than they may be used to this morning.
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"We are in the process of recovering after the most damaging two years in our industry’s history, and whilst we have made strong progress on recruitment, unfortunately we remain some way short of where we need to be.
“It is still the case that most passengers will pass through security in fewer than 30 minutes, but at peak times queues may rise to between 60 and 90 minutes.
"As such we are advising passengers to arrive three hours before their departure, and to double-check that their hand luggage is compliant with rules on liquids and electrical items.
"If they do this, we are confident we will get them on their way this Bank Holiday weekend.”
It is expected that as many as 17million people will travel this weekend during the May bank holiday.
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Even those opting for a staycation have been affected, with a number of rail engineering works planned over the weekend, affecting 550 routes.
It isn't the first time problems have happened to travellers in recent weeks, with delays and long queues still affecting airports due to Covid staff shortages.
Passengers at airports including Manchester, Heathrow, Gatwick and Bristol complained of long waits as they attempted to travel during the school Easter break.
Earlier this month, passengers at Bristol Airport said they waited more than 90 minutes to get their luggage back, while others said it was more than an hour just to drop their bags before their flight.
Baggage problems were also reported at Gatwick and Heathrow, where passengers have waiting more than an hour both at security and at baggage reclaim.
According to Karen Dee, chief executive of the Airport Operators Association, UK airports need to recruit tens of thousands of staff, with Heathrow alone needing 12,000 staff to keep queues down.
Airlines have also canceled thousands of flights in recent weeks, with British Airways also reducing their schedule this summer.
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This was initially expected to last until May - British Airways has since extended this until June, causing even more disruption for holidaymakers.
According to the , the airline's chief executive Sean Doyle told staff yesterday that flights would be trimmed until the end of June to "make its schedules more reliable".
