Express security bookings suspended due to airport queue chaos

Bookings for the express security lane at Birmingham Airport have been put on hold as it has double the bomber of bookings the express lane can cater for.

No new bookings will be taken but existing bookings will be honoured.

Problems have resulted in missed flights over the weekend due to security queues of up to three hours.

Many aviation industries lost nearly half of their workforce during the pandemic. The gap in the workforce needs to be filled rapidly as airports are struggling to cope now that restrictions have been lifted.

The airport had more than 110,000 customers across the bank holiday weekend.

Simon Evans, Birmingham Airport’s head of corporate affairs and marketing said: “Our priority is making sure every departing customer makes their flight.”

“There is no quick fix to this problem, but we are tackling it. Week by week, our deployable security resources are increasing.

“Our new security officers, once trained and deployed, will help reduce customer wait times. In addition, we are bolstering our front-of-house team to ensure customers benefit from speedy information and improved service.

“As always, our message to departing customers is: Help us help you keep queues moving by removing any liquids, gels, pastes and electrical items from your bags before our security X-ray scanners.”

Bookings for the £4-per-person security express lane will be on hold for the foreseeable future.