‘Chaos’ at Manchester and Birmingham airports as travellers face long queues

theguardian.com:

Thousands of passengers have had to queue outside terminals at Birmingham and Manchester airports, and dozens have missed flights, in chaotic scenes underlining the aviation industry’s struggle to return to normal pre-pandemic service.

The staff shortages that led to congested terminals at Easter and widespread flight cancellations have persisted, with Birmingham deciding to move passengers outside to disentangle check-ins from security lines.

Passengers described the experience as “manic” and “absolute chaos” on social media. One at Manchester, who described himself as a regular flyer, tweeted he had “never seen it this bad” as lines of people stretched outside the airport buildings in the early morning.

Airports and carriers have blamed staff shortages for the long queues faced by passengers around the country in recent weeks. Many lost staff during the pandemic, some through redundancy, but also as employees left to take up other jobs elsewhere.

Most have been in the process of rehiring thousands of staff, with demand for travel soaring after the lifting of Covid travel restrictions in the UK. But the rush to recruit has been accompanied by lengthy waits for security clearance, and staff absence amid high rates of coronavirus has worsened matters.

The queues at airports have contributed to airline decisions to cut flights from their schedules – although they both are also struggling with staff shortages, from the combination of the Omicron variant spreading through their bases and the length of time for approve new recruits.

British Airways has cancelled about 10% of its flights a day until the end of October. A spokesperson said: “While we ramp up our operation, we’re also building more resilience into our flying