Heathrow has been hit by another day of travel chaos with hundreds of passengers left without luggage and caught up in lengthy queues.
Huge lines were seen snaking around the outside of the London airport this morning, as it continues to be hit by staffing shortages.
One traveller described the "chaos" and "lengthy wait times" at Terminal 2, saying there "simply is not enough space to queue".
Tensions appeared to boil over at one point, with "some flare-ups" being reported between the public and stressed-out staff.
Airlines were even forced to "fish" customers out of security queues for final calls, said another passenger, who spent two and a half hours waiting inside the airport.
Footage capturing "hundreds of cases" piled up at baggage reclaim, which is the responsibility of the airlines and their ground handlers, was also posted to Twitter this morning.
It is the third day in a row that Heathrow has faced delays, after travellers compared the scenes to something out of a "disaster movie" yesterday.
Piles of unclaimed suitcases had been left at the airport after a luggage system failure in recent weeks, leading one travel expert to warn passengers that they should "assume" checked-in bags will "never, ever be seen again".
Speaking to a traveller trying to retrieve her lost luggage from Heathrow, Simon Calder recently told ITV's This Morning: "The bit I didn’t want to hear was Terminal 2, because it was exactly two weeks ago when you arrived that the baggage system failed.
"I’m so so sorry to say this, and I’m sure it will turn up, but anybody checking anything in, when that bag gets tagged, when you see it disappear, you have to assume that you will never, ever see it again."
Meanwhile, 49-year-old Craig Lester said "space is at a premium" while travelling to Ireland today.
The television engineer said: "There simply is not enough space to queue.
"At security it is lengthy wait times. It took me over 90 minutes from walking into the terminal until I eventually got through security. I hate to see what it will look like during school holidays in August."
Mr Lester described seeing "some flare-ups" between workers and passengers, adding: "The staff are under pressure, I can't blame them. People have them under pressure."
"It is unbelievably uncomfortable," he added from the plane.
Passengers also took to Twitter to complain of the delays, with one saying: "90 minutes since I arrived at Heathrow and I’ve managed to drop my bags off. Now joined the security line which is… massive.
"Airlines are fishing people out of the queue when it gets to final call."
In response, a Heathrow spokesperson said it is "common industry practice to 'call forward' customers close to their time of departure".
Another shared a picture of a huge line outside the airport at around 11.50am, writing: "If you’re still wondering how bad air travel is this summer… this is the current queue at Heathrow Terminal 2."
In a statement, the airport said: “This is a busy period as people make the most of the ability to travel for the first summer in three years.
"We are doing everything we can to get everyone away to their destinations, and for the vast majority of passengers travelling through Heathrow this is the experience they are having.
"At busier times, to ensure passengers do not miss flights, it is common industry practice to ‘call forward’, where customers who are close to their time of departure are invited to the front of a queue in order to make their flight.”
Shortages of staff to handle baggage and carry out security checks such as X-rays are fuelling long queues and delays at UK airports.
In an attempt to dampen the chaos, ministers are claiming security tests for new workers are being completed in record times.
The Government has ordered the vetting centre to prioritise checks for airports so new recruits can help plug the gaps quicker.
But Labour accused the Government of having been "missing in action".
Shadow transport secretary Louise Haigh said: "The part-time Transport Secretary didn't hold a single meeting to tackle the chaos between Easter and the Jubilee weekend and now he's desperately trying to play catch-up.
"These re-announced half-measures will do little to clear the huge delays in security checks and tackle the chronic low pay holding the industry back."
However, the DfT said Mr Shapps held an aviation roundtable to discuss the disruption with airports, airlines and ground handling companies on June 1.
