Bristol Airport has issued an apology to passengers who faced waits of around an hour and a half on Sunday morning. Following weeks of queues and delays at the airport, passengers were left fuming with reportedly only half of the security points open during peak times.
Some passengers claimed that the queue for check-in and security was around 90 minutes, Bristol Live reports. In one tweet, one passenger also said that "only half of the security points" were open and that the staff on duty were having a "sh**** time dealing with the chaos".
In a statement, the airport apologised for the queues, saying they appreciated customers' frustration. However, they also advised people to check with their airline what time the check in or bag-drop desk opens, and arrive then - and not to arrive too early.
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A spokesperson for the airport said: "We are sorry customers experienced an above average check-in and security queue this morning during peak operation (Sunday, May 22). We work closely with all business partners and airline handling agents to ensure staffing levels are sufficient to provide a good service and our average queue time for security is 30 minutes.
"We constantly review resourcing across all areas and adapt plans to meet demand and build in resilience where possible to ensure that service standards are consistent through the day. We appreciate the frustration experienced by customers currently and please be reassured our teams are working exceptionally hard to assist customers throughout the airport journey.
"All business partners are continuing to recruit and train new colleagues, but this takes time. We advise all customers to check with the airline when their check-in/ bag drop desk opens and arrive in the terminal at this time – do not arrive too early as customers will not be able to check-in.”
The latest delays come days after further hold-ups at security, with pictures showing passengers in queues that stretch out of the terminal building as they waited to check-in.
As well as staff shortages at the airport, there have also been a series of IT issues in recent weeks. The airport has a large number of flights scheduled each day and has been advising passengers they could need to arrive up to three hours before, to get through the various check-ins and security gates.
On Thursday, passenger Josh Newton, who was flying to Dubrovnik, in Croatia, said he got to the airport at 5.30am and spent 80 minutes queueing. Mr Newton, from Bristol, told BristolLive he had used Bristol Airport many times but said Thursday was the busiest he has seen it by far. "It is organised chaos. It is very busy but well-handled," he said. "I have had worse in Israel.
"The staff were really good and kept people informed. People who had close flights were sent ahead. I wasn't worried I would miss the flight but I would have been if didn’t arrive very early."
