Heathrow Airport holidaymakers have faced long queues due to a backlog, for Covid checks, and now Manchester.
Heathrow Airport: Passengers queue in long lines
As the chaos in travel spreads to Manchester, furious passengers at airports continue to face long queues.
Heathrow Airport Holidaymakers are already facing long queues due to a backlog as well as for Covid checks.
Photos shared on social media showed the “horrific” queues to pass Terminal 3 as people vent their frustration.
The Home Office later admitted that there were huge lines at Terminal 5 of the airport’s Terminal 5 where a pregnant woman fell unconscious on Friday night. “unacceptable.”
According to the airport, Border Force (which manages Heathrow’s checkpoint) knew there would increase demand and declared that they were “very disappointed” They didn’t have enough staff available on Friday night.
However, the lines continue to drag and The MEN ReportThe travel chaos at Manchester airport has worsened over the weekend.
According to one elderly passenger, he fainted while waiting in long lines.
Some claim they waited as much as two hours to pass Passport Control. This is managed by UK Border Force.
Photos showed luggage piling up and conveyor belts bursting as a knock-on effect.
Ian McCarter shared photos of the chaos, adding: “They were seriously short-staffed and clogged up, not even checking passenger locator forms so all a bit of a shambles really.”
Another traveler tweeted from the airport to share his thoughts: “T2 dep security was pretty grim this morning.
“Due to the long queues, there are only 2 or 3 stations available. “staff shortage”.
“Saw one elderly passenger faint in the queue. Not world-class.”
A second: “Check in this morning at Manchester Airport an absolute shambles.
“For a 9.35 flight, I arrived just after the airport desks opened at 7.30. There were arguments between the airport staff and EasyJet. Too few staff are available at desks.
“Couldn’t process the 4 flights without constantly changing priorities and queues.”
Another question was: “Do you really think it’s acceptable to have such inefficient border control systems at Manchester airport after the recent Heathrow farce?
“Hour-long queues, zero ventilation, and no social distancing whatsoever!”
Jennifer Stanley, a Bury resident, described Saturday’s problems. She said Passport Control was difficult after she returned from Mallorca with her family.
“It was just crazy,” She said.
“The queue was moving at first. The reason it was moving was they were making the lanes longer, nobody was going through.
“They simply kept increasing the capacity of this lane.
“It was like being in a third-world country. Children were screaming, and they were sitting on the floor.
“There was no social distancing whatsoever, it was quite scary.”
A Home Office spokesperson said: “Throughout the pandemic, we have been clear that queue times may be longer as we ensure all passengers are compliant with the health measures put in place to keep the UK public safe. But, the extremely long wait times that we witnessed at Heathrow yesterday night are unacceptable.
“This is the busiest weekend of the year for returning passengers, with particularly high numbers of families with children under the age of 12 who cannot use e-gates.
“Border Force is rapidly reviewing its rosters and capacity and flexibly deploying our staff across the airport to improve waiting times. We are working very closely with Heathrow Airport and its airlines and we are all committed to making sure all passengers can have a safe and hassle-free journey.”
Manchester Airport spokesperson said: “We are aware that queues at the border this afternoon were longer than usual.
“UK Border Force handles immigration checks. We will discuss events with them to learn how they came about and make sure that passengers have the best possible experience.”
On Saturday afternoon, a Heathrow spokeswoman said: “We are sorry for the unacceptable wait times that passengers experienced at immigration last night because there weren’t enough Border Force officers.
“Border Force was aware of the extra demand from families and we were very disappointed that they did not provide sufficient resource.
“Heathrow also had Heathrow colleagues who helped manage the queues and gave out water to passengers. However, every immigration desk must be staffed at peak hours.