Manchester Airport apologises after being branded 'not fit for purpose' due to continued queues

Video report by ITV Granada Reports' Journalist Tim Scott

"Chaotic" scenes have continued at Manchester Airport as passengers describe queues and wait times as "a shambles" and "manic".

Frustrated travellers have taken to social media to vent their frustration, once again, as queues for departures spilled out of the terminal building and snake round the car-park on Monday, 9 May.

Ryan Hoey wrote: "As a regular user of the airport, I could describe my experiences as of late, but I usually refrain from swearing on Twitter."

There were lots more complaints on the social media platform.

Richard Green from Newcastle flew out to Prague on Monday 9 May.

He said: "I arrived at the Airport over four hours before my flight was due, mostly being I wanted to account for trains being late as well.

"As it happens, I thought I was there way too early and was going to go and kill some time before security.

"As I walked into T1 departures, I noticed a queue outside in the corner of my eye and sure enough, the queue stretched right into the drop-off area before snaking to the bottom of the terminal building and back inside.

"The part of the queue past check-in was pretty chaotic. You had throngs of people hovering around trying to check in early, then you had people trying to go straight from the desks into the part of the queue that was inside.

"Once you were inside security itself, there was a guy shouting out flight times so people could join a priority line if their flight was due.

"The staff appeared to have a good handle on the situation and were trying to make sure people were as prepared as possible.

"Unfortunately the sheer volume of people meant that the air conditioning wasn't working but people were actively encouraged to remove layers.

"I can't fault the staff and do feel bad for what they're dealing with. I spoke to one member of security staff and he said he felt like he just wanted to walk off the job there and then."

In a statement Manchester Airport said: "We are aware that at times this morning, some passengers have experienced longer security queues than we would like and we apologise for any inconvenience caused.

“We continue to make good progress in our recovery from the devastating impacts of the pandemic, both in terms of recruiting the number of staff we need for the summer, and the waiting times experienced by the majority of travellers.

"However, we are still advising customers there will be occasions when queues will be longer than usual, as was the case for periods this morning due to unexpectedly high levels of absence experienced on the day.

"Whenever this is the case, we do all we can to minimise disruption. When necessary, we have also taken the decision to make use of part of Terminal One’s car park in order to effectively manage queues and minimise congestion within the terminal itself."

Passengers are also being asked to arrive three hours before their flight is due to depart, and to ensure hand luggage is packed in accordance with security rules.