Manchester Airport passengers faced huge queues as they attempted to depart from the airport.
As people tried to reach departures, queues stretched out of the Terminal 3 building and into the car park from 4am on Wednesday. The queues continued well into the morning at the only recently reopened terminal, reports the M.E.N.
One passenger in the line said the airport's recent woes were 'embarrassing'. According to others, it took over two hours to get through the security queue, even for those who joined as early as 4am.
READ MORE: Liverpool John Lennon Airport issues advice to LFC fans heading to Paris
One passenger said: "Check-in, then sent to car park to pass through security? Ridiculous!". Another, at the front of the long queue in the Terminal 3 car park, said: "How much could I sell my my space here at the front for?"
According to the M.E.N, passengers were shocked when told to head to the car park to queue. A queuing passenger said: "We got here early as we've seen all the stories about long delays but it's a bit ridiculous to be stood in a car park queuing isn't it?
"Some of our friends have had horrible experiences so we almost did expect the worst but it shouldn't be like this. I've never queued like this in an airport in London or abroad so why is it such a problem here? People travel from all over the place to travel through here so it needs sorting out, it's not even the school holidays yet."
Tom Morris told the Manchester Evening News that he had arrived at Terminal 3 around 4.30am for a 7.45am flight, longer than the three hours recommended by the airport, and went straight to security. He said: "The queue was roughly 2ish hours in the standard lane (there’s a fast track lane so not sure of speeds there). The standard security lane seemed to build up quite heavily behind us.
"It was slow going as there was only one conveyer belt/scanner at times. Hopefully it is sorted now. But there were only two, sometimes one baggage checker also which held up some people and further scanning."
The airport is still hiring for hundreds of roles to try and relieve the issues seen this year. A jobs fair held on Wednesday advertised many of these positions, from airport security to engineers, to add to the 200 who are starting work this month at the airport, according to Ian Costigan, Interim Managing Director of Manchester Airport.
He also said that more than 1,600 people had applied in April. Airport bosses believe this should address many of the problems seen recently, including queuing, which are caused by staff shortages.
A Manchester Airport spokesman said on Wednesday: "We apologise to any passengers whose experience at Manchester Airport this morning was not how they would like it to be. During our ongoing recovery from the pandemic, we continue to advise customers there may be some times when security queues are longer than usual, which is why we advise people to arrive three hours before their flights.
“On Wednesday morning, while the vast majority of people passed through security in under 30 minutes, waiting times peaked at more than 60 mins in one of our terminals for a brief period of time, and we are sorry for any inconvenience caused.” The spokesman also said that at least three to six security lanes were running at all times."
