Passengers have complained about long queues at Bristol Airport this morning, both outside the terminal and at security.
Travellers described scenes of "absolute chaos", with reports of fights breaking out and some people suffering panic attacks.
Bristol Live reports that some people were seen crying in the queues as they missed their flights.
A passenger wrote on Twitter that six security lanes were closed and there was "no coordination or communication" - and described the queues as "unacceptable".
Richard Flowerdew said easyJet delayed the flights so that passengers could make it.
Passenger Simon Sucksmith said: "These are the scenes from Bristol airport this morning, Friday October 21.
"Utter security chaos, thousands of people all crammed in, loads outside, my children were totally scared.
"There were hardly any staff, and those that were there had no idea what was going on.
"Swissport, Jet2 and Tui all saying it's the airport security is the issue, I blame them all.
"This is a fire and security risk as people were pushing through security with minimal checks being done.
"Please can you report this so people know and the airport take action.
"Our flight to Ibiza is being delayed as there are still 25 people stuck in security, Swissport have no idea what is going on in security, there is no communication between them.
"Our Tui flight is on the apron with people on it at present."
Another witness added: "It is absolute carnage at Bristol airport this morning.
"We arrived at the security queue 04.30am and cleared security at about 06.00am. Only three security check desks open and one is for fast track only.
"Now sat on the tarmac on a plane that was due to leave 06.50am, but can't because 40 plus passengers are still stuck at security! Nightmare."
Bristol Airport said in a statement: "The security queues in the early morning [21/10/22] were unacceptable and we apologise to all customers who were impacted. Far fewer security staff were working than planned.
"We're urgently discussing the issue with our security business partner so passengers receive the service levels they rightly expect.
"The queues at security returned to normal by 08.00h today. Our advice for passengers flying later today is unchanged - we recommend you arrive at least two hours ahead of your scheduled time of departure."
