Birmingham Airport bosses are under fire and have repeatedly dismissed long waiting times reported by passengers, which our reporter experienced twice in one week. BirminghamLive has reported on long queues at security that first appeared in May and became almost daily in June.
One couple reported a wait of one hour and 45 minutes on Sunday, June 9, and days before, on Thursday, June 6, a delay of one hour and 17 minutes was reported. Another couple said they waited in line for two hours and were unable to make it to the upper floor on Monday, June 17, where they were queuing toward the security screening hall.
Our reporter Nick Horner flew out of Birmingham Airport twice in less than a week. The first time was on Sunday 16 June, on a 7.45am flight, which gave him a generous three hours and 20 minutes, but which was quickly eaten up by a wait of exactly one hour and 53 minutes for security, from the end of the line to the entrance of the duty-free shop.
Read more: BHX issues new 100ml liquids recommendation as passengers question rule
His article about the queue can be seen here, with a video showing the full length of the queue below and the queue at security at Dusseldorf Airport – a stark comparison. His X-thread about the queue has been read by more than 100,000 people.
And a second flight (both times to Germany to see England) on Thursday (June 20), this time at 9:10am, and I was at the end of the line at 6. This time the wait at security was an hour and 15 minutes. An improvement, but no comparison to the 11 minutes it takes to get through security in Düsseldorf and the 20 minutes at busy Frankfurt Airport on Friday (June 21).
One notable difference the second time was that there was an additional baggage scanning device or lane in operation – 20 percent more capacity. Also, it was a weekday, not a weekend.
BirminghamLive has asked Birmingham Airport a series of questions about the issues passengers have raised with us and on social media. We will publish a full report shortly.
However, one response said that the wait times were not as bad as claimed. Our reporter strongly objected to this, as he had taken photos from both ends as “proof” of the wait.
Read more: I flew from Birmingham Airport and the journey back to BHX amazed me
Our question to BHX staff about the possible causes of the waiting time was related to the reason why two baggage scanners were not in use on Sunday 16 June. The question was asked before Nick flew to Germany for the second time – when six machines were in use and the waiting time was drastically reduced.
We asked, “Why were only 5 lanes in operation on Sunday (June 16), even though the queue was two hours long? Will there be a time when all 7 lanes are at full capacity?”
And in response, BHX denied the long wait times our reporter experienced that day, saying the maximum delay was “less than an hour.” And the airport also claimed the average wait time for 75 percent of passengers was “less than 20 minutes.”
The airport’s full response: “The line was not two hours long on Sunday. 75 percent of our customers waited less than 20 minutes to go through security. Even during our busy morning peak, the line at security was less than 60 minutes.”
“The use of the lanes depends on the demand and throughput of passengers. At the time you mentioned, three out of four passengers were processed in less than 20 minutes.”