Passengers flying out of Birmingham Airport are likely to encounter a temporary structure built to help alleviate the current queuing problems they have experienced over the past week. The chaos was partly caused by last minute changes to the 100ml carry-on rule, and the ongoing construction work at BHX looks set to continue.
Holidaymakers have faced queues of up to two hours to get into security in the past week. This is despite efforts by airport bosses to tackle the delays, which include hiring an extra 100 staff and building “liquid check stations” to ensure fewer passengers are caught by the new 100ml rules.
But yesterday morning, many passengers still experienced “crazy” queues that crawled out of the airport building.
POLL: Stuck in queues at Birmingham Airport?
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This is a live blog, see below for updates.
08:44Ben Perrin
“1.5 tons of liquids, pastes and gels are removed every day”
Birmingham Airport bosses have revealed staff have to remove a whopping 1.5 tonnes of liquids, pastes and gels from passengers every day to ensure customers comply with government regulations.
Full story from Naomi DeSouza’s BirminghamLive here.
08:11Ben Perrin
‘It shouldn’t be like this’
Dr. Christel McMullan said in an update that she got through the queue in an hour and 15 minutes, which is far from an ideal experience.
She wrote: “Joined at 5:45am and got through security by 7am. Moving yes but it shouldn’t be. And not knowing how long it takes to get through security means I left home really early .And blame the queue passengers????
08:00Ben Perrin
Fear of the “chaos” of the summer holidays
Passengers told how they feared ‘chaos’ at the airport during the school holidays – within weeks.
She urged the airport to open more security lanes.
07:52Ben Perrin
“Long queues are not ideal – but the staff are working hard”
Another passenger wrote on X: “I connected at 6:15 am and was in the departure hall by 7. Queues long but constantly moving and staff calling people for earlier flights.
“I thought it was calm, organized and efficient. Long lines are not ideal but the staff worked hard.”
07:33Sarah Probert
Queues are “long but fast”
Although the lines look long, some passengers are reporting that the time spent through security is not too bad this morning.
07:30Sarah Probert
Passengers report long queues
Passengers are now reporting long queues for the past hour. Dr Christel McMullan flying into Belfast this morning snapped waiting passengers and tweeted a plea for Birmingham Airport to “sort out the mess”.
07:27Sarah Probert
Flying with Ryanair
Flying into and out of Birmingham Airport, our reporter Emily Chaplin noticed the change to Ryanair during her last trip a few weeks ago. You can read about her experience in her article here.
I have flown with Ryanair and I have seen a major change
07:19Sarah Probert
New structures
Passengers flying through the airport in recent days have seen huge new structures put in place to deal with queues that have delayed people considerably. Below is a video from one passenger where you can see the measures in place.
05:13A key event
Update queue length
People flying out of Birmingham Airport have reported on social media that queues are now around an hour long to get through security.
Those who booked express tickets before the flight can skip these queues, but they are in short supply and more than double the price.
04:33A key event
Social media shows growing queues
04:33William Morgan
Report on creating long queues
One passenger took 50 minutes to get through security at 3am, but images on social media show larger queues, which make up most of the early morning passengers arriving for their flights.
A BHX passenger said: “About 50 minutes to go through. The process is quite slow and only half the lanes are in use. People on the fast track are slowing everyone else down.”
03:58William Morgan
Birmingham Airport is urging passengers to comply with the new rules
03:01A key event
What is Birmingham Airport’s 100ml rule?
Despite plans to relax the 100ml liquid rule for hand luggage due to improvements in security technology, the failure to install these improvements at every airport caused the government to change its guidance at the last minute, reversing the change more than a week ago.
You can only carry 100ml containers in your hand luggage. BHX states the rules explicitly on its website:
- Liquids, pastes and gels only containers up to 100 ml can be carried in hand luggage – anything larger must be in checked luggage.
- No liquids above this size.
- Anything over 100ml will be removed and destroyed.
- Here is no limit on the number of containers under 100 ml which can be worn.
- Containers that hold more than 100 mlsuch as insulated bottles are allowed but must be completely empty.
- No put your liquids, pastes and gels in plastic bags (please leave them loose in your hand luggage).
- Do not take them out of your carry-on when you are in the security screening area.
- Leave all electronics in carry-on luggage during a security check.
- When going through security please make sure all items are out of pockets including phones, keys, coins and tissues, etc. Watches can be kept.