[Tom Otley]

Very challenging times for airports (and airlines)

Birmingham Airport issues statement on average wait times after short-staffing chaos
More than 400,000 people are expected to pass through BHX over the Easter school holiday fortnight

Interestingly, in a piece in the Telegraph by Oliver Gill, it was also mentioned that the fuel blockades by the activists almost caused a major problem at the airport..

“Aviation industry leaders held crisis talks with government officials late last week after Birmingham Airport scrambled to avoid running out of aviation fuel.

Jets were asked to land at the airport with extra supplies so that they did not need to refill following the obstruction of deliveries at a nearby depot.”

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Bullfrog

[ViajeroUK]

Flew out of Birmingham on an early flight Friday 20th. I had heard that they has stopped selling Express Lane/Fast Track some time ago due to people trying avoid security queues, so I had hoped that as I was travelling in C my journey through security would be brief.

How wrong I was, when I arrived at the security area there was already a queue snaking around the area before the section where boarding passes were checked, but only one queue. I approached a person herding folks towards the queue and asked about access to the Fast Track lane, his reply was that “fast track starts inside boarding card check area” What a farce! At the entrance to the boarding card area the Q ‘herders’ were asking any families with children to go to the Fast Track area, causing an unnecessary blockage because when these families reached the check they were then shuttled back into the general queue, which blocked progress for genuine Fast Track passengers, and didn’t seem to save the families time anyway.

When I finally arrived for my briefer than expected visit to the lounge I was told that many complaints had already been made about lack of access to Fast Track, but not to expect any changes. Security at BHX opens at 03.30 for the many ‘bucket and spade’ flights which depart around 06.00, but apparently hoards of people arrive at the airport an hour or so before security opens, they must actually enjoy queuing!

So beware, Fast Track at Birmingham only exists after the queues!

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Woodpecker

[FaroFlyer]

I had a similar experience on Monday 16th at BHX. The queue to get access to the Fast Track queue was not too bad, about 20 minutes, but then the boarding card scanners for Fast Track were not working so they had 1 person checking manually. Several people had decided to see what happens if they get to Fast Track scan point without having paid for Fast Track. After that you do move quickly to the scanners, but join the normal queue as there is no dedicated Fast Track scanning machinery or personnel. My bag was rejected, for no good reason, and I had to wait another 20 minutes until it was manually checked. Passed, of course, but the trainee forgot to identify the bag, so it was rejected again!

Airport departure area was very crowded, which is to be expected if you 50% more passengers to be in it. 3 hours at 2,000 PAX an hour instead of 2 hours of PAX at 2,000 an hour.

To be fair to Birmingham Airport management, they say that they want to make your time at the airport a memorable experience, and they certainly achieve their objective!

[FaroFlyer]

It seems there is no improvement expected
https://news.sky.com/story/birmingham-airport-braced-for-half-term-passenger-surge-as-boss-warns-staffing-issues-may-last-until-autumn-12622014

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