Passengers at Heathrow Airport are stuck in long queues as staff shortages continue to cause travel chaos.
Furious customers at the west London airport have complained about delays at passport control with several e-gates out of operation.
Travellers also reported delays at check-ins, believed to be caused by problems recruiting workers as well as Covid absences.
Terminal 2 at Heathrow is said to be at “near capacity”, with passengers reportedly unable to enter until at least three hours before their flight.
2 hours queue for BA check in at Manchester Airport. 1 hour sat on plane waiting to take off (reason given, staff shortage issues). 2 hours sat on plane at Heathrow waiting to take off (reason given, staff shortage issues). 5 hours of avoidable delays due to incompetence.
— Howard Manion (@MannyMGB) April 3, 2022
One customer wrote on Twitter: “Queues are horrendous at terminal 2- how many more excuses? Unacceptable.”
A spokesperson for Heathrow Airport replied: “We are aware of a longer queues that is impacting passengers. Airlines will be working hard to process passengers in a swift manner. Please make sure you’re following airline guidance. We are sorry for any inconvenience.”
The airline added: “We’re aware of an issue impacting the e-gates, which are staffed and operated by Border Force. This issue is impacting a number of ports of entry, and our teams are working closely with Border Force to resolve this as quickly as possible.”
The travel chaos coicides with the start of the Easter holidays with more Brits looking to travel abroad following the removal of all Covid travel restrictions in the UK.
@manairport you are an absolute disgrace! It was dangerous today, people will get hurt if you do not improve things @BBCNews pic.twitter.com/ZDee9KqTsP
— Jane Gilham (@GilhamJane) April 1, 2022
Travellers at Manchester Airport are also facing long delays at baggage collection as the airport struggles to deal with increased demand.
One man told the BBC a member of staff had said "they’ve got rid of everyone [staff] and no one wants to come back".
Others took to social media to complain that they were left stuck on planes because "there’s no ground crew available to let us off".
Manchester Airport has already blamed long passenger queues on staff shortages in recent weeks.
It warned further problems were likely as the airport struggled with increasing demand after “dramatically scaling back” operations during the pandemic.
There were long delays at the Port of Dover on Saturday caused by disruption to cross-Channel ferries and bad weather.
The suspension of P&O services, with three of the company’s vessels at berth in Dover, has exacerbated long queues.
The situation has improved slightly but delays are likely to continue beyond the weekend, the boss of the British Ports Association has said.
Speaking this morning, Richard Ballantyne said: “It is a bit better today, we understand.
“Yesterday we were up to nine-hour queues outside the port. Traffic measures are in place, which are working fairly well and it enables other people around east Kent and businesses, residents etc to move around freely.
“But (it is) not a good position if you’re stuck in a vehicle for six to eight hours.”
