It’s another week of “mayhem” at airports across the UK as passengers waited in four hour queues at one travel hub trailing 182 metres past the airport and flights were delayed.
Flights heading out between 6am and 11am were delayed departing up to two hours late from Leeds Bradford Airport. Queues were seen snaking back to the airport entrance way and through the car park between 4am and 8am as passengers stood with their arms folded in a sea of trollies and luggage.
What’s more, the queues trailed through the check-in desk to security. Airport taxi services told Leeds Live customers were “not happy” when they were dropped off at the airport, and felt like they were “at Alton Towers queuing for the Smiler ride”.
“Not the way you want to start your holiday”, one passenger said. Airport taxi service Butler Travel said: “Wow the passengers are queuing out of the terminal and 200yds outside.”
This is a pattern which continues to occur at the airport, with early morning flights causing “shambles”. “It must be the really early morning flights where the queues are ridiculous”, one passenger said.
Taxi driver Mark Davies said: “I was dropping off two customers at 05.15am today and both were very unhappy.”
Whereas one customer travelling through the airport at noon on Wednesday reported that there was a two-hour wait just to get through security.
The airport was branded like a “theme park” on Monday as passengers reported waiting “in the cold” for over an hour. One passenger said she was “stuck” in the Yeadon airport on Sunday evening. The holiday goer on an arrival flight from Malaga said passengers got off the plane and when going through the airport they came to a locked door they couldn’t get through.
Leeds Bradford Airport previously said the ongoing issues were due to lack of staff. However, on Tuesday the Yeadon airport reported people have been arriving at the airport eight hours earlier than expected.
They tweeted: “If you’re due to travel from @LBIAirport this week, our official guidance is to ARRIVE NO EARLIER THAN THREE HOURS BEFORE YOUR FLIGHT DEPARTURE TIME. You can help to speed up your passage through security by familiarising yourself with the process. Thank you.”
Liam Copley tweeted: “Well British media done a good job in scaring the British public with the airport staff shortage people here for a 12:00 flight @LBIAirport this is the security que very bad management in my opinion.”
Dave Grimwood said: “Dropped off people at myself at the airport earlier. Customers were aghast at the queue.”
Departures from LBA this morning:
- 7.25am to Napels, LS365, Jet2.com, Airbourne 8.35am
- 7.40am to Faro, LS251, Jet2.com, Airbourne 8.53am
- 7.45am to Catania, LS293, Jet2.com, Airbourne 8.17am
- 8.10am to Gdandsk, FR1503, Ryanair, Airbourne 8.24am
- 8.25am to Belfast City, E13671, Aer Lingus, estimated departure was 10.20am with no further updates added
- 8.30am to Alicante, LS271, Jet2.com, Airbourne 8.44am
- 8.35am to Dublin, E13391, Aer Lingus, gate closed (11am update)
- 8.45am to Verona, LS461, Jet2.com, gate closed (11am update)
- 9.05am to Alicante, FR9079, Ryanair, boarding (11am update)
- 9.30am to Wroclaw, FR4107, Ryanair, boarding (11am update)
- 9.30am to Vilnius, FR5043, Ryanair, boarding (11am update)
- 10.05am to Amsterdam, KL1542, KLM, check-in desks open
- 10.55am to Faro, FR203, Ryanair, bag drop area open
- 11.30am to Belfast City, BE73, Flybe, bag drop area open
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