A passenger waiting to depart from Manchester Airport has told of the 'mayhem' caused by huge security delays with children 'forced to urinate in plastic bags' and some passengers collapsing. Queues were described as horrendous as staff struggled to cope.
Jack Makin, 32, and his wife Laura Story-Makin, 32, arrived at the airport - which has been plagued by problems due to staff shortages in recent weeks - three and a half hours before their flight to Malta on April 1. But Jack claimed it took five 'intense' hours to get from check-in to the boarding gate, reports the Manchester Evening News.
Jack, a postman and photographer from Winsford in Cheshire, said he arrived at the airport at around 4.30pm with paramedic wife Laura. He said: "We were flying out of Terminal 3 but had to go through Terminal 1 to their security, and then across the Terminal 3 to fly as Terminal 3 didn't have the staff to open security there.
"So we had two terminals worth of people going through one security area. It was mayhem. A family in front of us had a child who started being sick due to dehydration and heat exhaustion.
"Kids were having to pee in the plastic bags that you'd usually put liquids in. It was horrific." Jack said it 'got heated at times' as people 'were pushing in' the queues and that he 'felt bad' for staff who were trying to manage the situation.
Jack said they were still queueing to get through security at 8.15pm, when their flight was due to take off at 8.05pm. He continued: "I said to Laura we should just give up and go home a few times because it was past the time for our flight and we'd obviously missed it.
"After asking anyone who worked there if our flight had gone, no-one could answer us. We had to risk it all in the hopes our pilot hadn't bailed on us after an intense five-hour battle."
Jack said the couple 'could have cried' when they got to the boarding gate and saw the Ryanair plane still on the tarmac. The flight eventually took off at around 11.15pm but that was not the end of the drama.
Two and a half hours into the flight, a woman collapsed through the toilet door and an elderly man 'dropped to the floor' a short time later. He said: "Laura went over to see what was going on. It turns out this poor lady was suffering from low blood pressure and fainted as she entered the toilet.
"Laura along with the absolutely brilliant Ryanair staff lay her down and elevated her feet. A few minutes later she was feeling better."
Jack said the Ryanair staff were 'amazing' and kept everyone calm. The 'sleep-deprived' pair finally got to their hotel in Malta at around 5am.
A spokesperson for Manchester Airport apologised and said that security workers handled the 'challenging circumstances' as best they could.
In a statement, the spokesperson said: "We apologise to passengers whose experience on the evening of Friday 1st April was unsatisfactory. Our industry is facing staff shortages and recruitment challenges at present after the most damaging two years in its history. On some occasions, including on the evening in question, this led to delays in passing through security, as well as other parts of the passenger journey that are managed by airlines and third parties, such as check-in and baggage reclaim.
"Wherever possible, our security staff prioritised passengers within queues, with the aim of ensuring that they did not miss their flights. We also have a special assistance service available for passengers who are less mobile and those who cannot stand for long periods, which can be pre-booked through their airline.
"We have launched one of our largest-ever recruitment drives and hundreds of new security staff are in the process of being vetted and trained. Unfortunately though, this is not a quick process, and at times in the coming weeks, we do expect wait times in security to be up to 90 minutes.
"As such we are asking passengers to arrive at the airport three hours in advance and to double-check their hand luggage complies with security rules before arriving, as any additional screening of bags will add to wait times. If passengers do this, we are confident that we will be able to get them away on their travels."
The Manchester Evening News also contacted Ryanair for a comment.
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