'Chaos' as passengers face airport security queues

Passengers have reported "chaos" at Birmingham Airport as they attempted to fly on holiday for the bank holiday weekend.

Photos showed long queues at security, with some travellers saying they only narrowly made their flights.

A spokesperson for the airport said the delays had been caused by "an unexpectedly high level of staff absence".

Lisa Lewis, from Solihull, said the queues were the longest she had ever seen.

"It was absolute chaos," she said. "I was fast tracked, and it took me nearly an hour to get through.

"It's a very unpleasant experience [and] I spoke to the man in charge at Security, and he said the problem was insufficient staff."

Radio BBC WM reporter Bernadette Shortt, who was flying out, described the security vetting process as "horrendous".

She said: "Staff are really doing their best, but people visiting Birmingham Airport for the first time don't understand why they have to queue to get up to security and then there's a massive queue.

"It's just really embarrassing."

Long queues and delays were a common sight in the airport in 2024 when it faced a technical problem in security.

Speaking on Friday morning, one traveller, Thomas, from Nottinghamshire described the scene as "badly organised" and "not a good experience".

The spokesperson for Birmingham Airport said staff absences meant it was unable to open the full number of screening lanes required.

"We recognise the impact this had on some passengers and apologise for the inconvenience caused."

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