Hundreds of holidaymakers were left stranded outside Birmingham Airport as summer travel chaos returns.
Photos and videos posted on social media show queues snaking outside of the airport from as early as 5am as passengers waited up to two hours to go through security.
Queues were reported to spill outside into the car park as one person said the delays resulted in passengers running “like it is the Olympics” to catch flights.
The long wait to pass through security comes less than a week after new restrictions were put into place regarding liquid in hand luggage.
Several airports across the UK planned to increase the limit of liquids in hand luggage from 100ml to two litres following the introduction of a new scanning system, known as Next Generation Security Checkpoints.
However, the implementation of the new measures has faced huge delays, leaving fliers confused about what they can and cannot take on board.
At Birmingham Airport, passengers can only carry containers up to 100ml in liquids, pastes and gels in their hand luggage
Birmingham Airport posted additional information on X: “Do not put them in plastic bags in your hand luggage and do not remove them at security. There is no restriction on how many 100ml containers are carried.”
A spokesperson for the airport previously said in a statement: “The rules that we have been adhering to since March are now very clear in that only liquids, pastes and gels up to 100ml can be carried through in hand luggage.
“Since opening our new security area, and despite being one of the first UK airports to comply, we have been limited on the use of our multi-million-pound equipment due to an outstanding regulatory restriction meaning we had to limit liquids to 100ml. This rule has now been implemented nationwide.
“Despite the 100ml rule still being in place, we continually have non-compliant bags with liquids over the allowance which have led to inefficiencies of our equipment and resulted in extended queuing time for customers.
“It is now imperative that all customers comply with the nationwide rule to ensure a smoother and simpler transition through the airport. A non-compliant bag with liquids over 100ml can add up to 20 minutes to each passenger’s journey through security.
“All travelling customers should check their hand luggage to ensure it complies with this restriction.”
