Passengers have hit out at Manchester Airport after they were stuck in 'horrendous' queues this morning.
Maria Dunster and her husband landed at the airport at about 10.30am today (Friday, March 4) following a holiday to Paris.
But she says it took them an hour-and-a-half to get through arrivals due to the size of queues at passport control in Terminal One.
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Mrs Dunster, from Stockport, claims a member of staff told her they were 'understaffed' and 'had not expected so many flights'.
"It was horrendous," she said. "There were five staff on trying to get hundreds of people through the gates.
"It was just chaotic. There were people still queuing on the planes.
"I've never seen it like that. I asked one of the guys and he said they were not expecting this many flights.
"They must know when flights are coming in because they're scheduled. This is not just people turning up at Manchester Airport because it's a sunny day.
"It took us longer to get through arrivals than to get back from Paris."
While she said many passengers were 'having a laugh' about the situation, Mrs Dunster expressed concerns over whether security was compromised in order to get people through passport control.
"There was no way they were checking people properly," she said. "They just wanted to get them through. There were hardly any security checks being done.
"There are worse things going on than having to wait at Manchester Airport but we're in quite a scary world at the moment. You would think they would be stepping up security."
Another traveller tweeted the airport to say: "What fresh hell has taken place at T1 arrivals passport queue? How can you possibly explain the queue today?"
A Manchester Airport spokesman said: "We understand some passengers had to queue for an extended period at the border in Terminal One this morning and apologise for any inconvenience.
"We want all passengers arriving into Manchester to have the best possible experience and are liaising with UK Border Force, which manages the immigration process, to refine this process and keep waiting times at the border to a minimum."
The Home Office, which manages UK Border Force, has been contacted for comment.
