East Midlands Airport prepares for busy season as Easter school holidays approach

Bosses at East Midlands Airport (EMA) hope it's the beginning of what will be a busy Summer season as the Easter school holidays approach.

The airline industry has been hit hard by lockdown, Covid restrictions and staff shortages.

They have all caused major disruption to our airports in the Midlands but EMA says it's expecting passenger numbers to be almost back to pre-pandemic levels this Summer.

Mike Grimes, Customer Service & Security Director, East Midlands Airport said: "Last year we saw some good recovery.

"Slower than we expected but that's really bounced back. So through the Summer, we're expecting to get to 90-95% in some of our peak months. So pretty much back to where we were pre-Covid. So we're going to be seeing about four million customers coming through East Midlands Airport over the next 12 months."

East Midlands Airport have held recruitment drives to attract more staff to fill any vacancies.

The most recent job fair was just last month to recruit more than 100 people and keep up with demand.

There are vacancies for airport security, customer services, assisted travel and car parking.

Speaking at the time, Mr Grimes said: "This is an exciting time to join the team at EMA. There's a real buzz around the place as we look forward to welcoming back passengers this year, many of whom still won't have travelled overseas since before the pandemic."

Next year could also see other major changes to airline travel. The government's considering deploying new 3D scanners at UK airports, which could see security restrictions on liquids and laptops in airport hand luggage abolished altogether.

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