As travellers and holiday makers at Birmingham Airport speak out about 'massive' baggage reclaim waits and flight delays, the Airport has issued a plea to passengers to "Be safe. Be calm. Be kind." The message, put out on its Twitter account, came at the end of an advice to passengers message.
Yesterday, Monday, May 31, Birmingham Live reported claims of "carnage" at the airport as exhausted families complained of flight delays and luggage hold ups.
A spokesperson for Birmingham Airport said: "We would like to thank customers at Birmingham airport for their patience and understanding at this exceptionally busy time. We are continuously working with airport staff and baggage handlers to ensure a smooth running of operations on the ground. The safety and wellbeing of our passengers and staff is always our highest priority."
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The Airport has now taken to Twitter to ask for passengers to "Help us help you keep moving". It continues to urge travellers they should be should "arriving when your airlines advises", adding people should present compliant bags at pre-flight screening - with liquids and electrical items removed. The tweet continues: "That way you’ll fly through. Be safe. Be calm. Be kind."
The message went on to ask that laptops, tablets and electronic devices were removed from bags at Airport Security and that devices had their covers removed before being placed in security trays. It added: "Place in the trays with space between - do not overlap items - use as many trays as you need."
The combination of the Bank Holiday Jubilee weekend and half-term for school children and teachers has meant airports up and down the country have been under pressure as Brits jet off for a break. The issue has been compounded by staff shortages. Birmingham Airport, for instance, was reported to have lost 43 percent of its workforce to redundancies during the pandemic and has struggled to recruit new staff fast enough to cope with the surge in demand.
