Travel chaos continued at major transport terminals around the UK today, following huge queues yesterday as the Easter holidays got underway.
Passengers at Heathrow and Manchester Airports, as well as the Port of Dover, have faced massive delays all weekend.
On Saturday, Manchester Airport was accused of being a ‘joke’ and making the queues ‘dangerous’ for passengers and staff, after sacking employees during the Covid crisis.
Today, Heathrow blamed its long delays on Covid checks required by other countries and ‘high passenger volumes’.
But there were also reports of staff shortages and problems with the e-gate passport checkpoints, as travellers took to social media to air their frustrations.
Some said they had waited hours to check in and take off as the airport confirmed ‘congestion’ was affecting Terminal 2.
The travel chaos comes at the start of the Easter break, with an increase in holidaymakers understood to be driving up passenger numbers.
A Heathrow spokesperson said: ‘Due to high passenger volumes and the Covid documentation checks still required by many end destinations, Terminal 2 departures has experienced some congestion today.
‘Our teams are supporting our airline partners to get passengers away on their journeys as quickly as possible and we apologise for any inconvenience this has caused.’
Meanwhile, Manchester Airport, which has faced problems for far longer, saw delays reach new lows this weekend.
Yesterday, social media user Jane Gilham told the airport it was an ‘absolute disgrace’.
‘It was dangerous today, people will get hurt if you do not improve things’, she said.
On Sunday, Andy Morgan added in a tweet: ‘Stood in a slow moving queue of literally thousands of people at Manchester Airport waiting to go thru security. This airport is a joke.’
Another social media user, called Paul, also told the airport: ‘disgusting service at terminal two, had to stay on the plane captain told no where to park up for 30mis, no luggage handlers at all had to wait a further 2hrs. The police doing your job as you were grossly under staffed!’
The Airport has apologised.
But the latest chaos comes as baggage handlers at the Airport revealed they are under ‘more stress than ever’ – and fear the situation could get worse.
There have been major delays for weeks amid staff shortages and an easing of Covid restrictions.
Staff working at the airport told the Manchester Evening News: ‘We just can’t handle the workload. It’s very understaffed at the moment, things are diabolical.
‘The entire work environment is shocking. A lot of people were furloughed and made redundant.’
Speaking anonymously, they continued: ‘Now everything is picking up again, we can’t just get the staff back. It’s absolute carnage right now.’
They also told of new staff walking away on their first day after seeing the state of the queues and aggression from passengers, while longer-serving staff hand in their notice.
A spokesperson told Metro.co.uk: ‘We apologise to passengers whose experience at Manchester Airport has fallen short of the standards they expected.
‘As we recover from the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, our whole industry is facing staff shortages and recruitment challenges. As a result we are advising customers that security queues may be longer than usual, and we encourage them to arrive at the earliest time recommended by their airline.’
The spokesperson said a number of ‘short-term measures’ were being explored but that security checks and training meant it would take time.
‘We are working hard to deliver the best possible service we can in the circumstances, and to resolve these issues as quickly as possible’, they added.
Meanwhile, traffic near the Port of Dover was said to be ‘free flowing’ again by Sunday afternoon, after the travellers slogged through hours of delays and gridlock.
The suspension of P&O services, with three of the company’s vessels at berth in Dover, had been partly blamed for the long queues.
But adverse weather in the Channel and congestion caused by tourists travelling to Kent for an Easter getaway were also said to be contributing to the jams.
The port said: ‘All approach roads to the Port are free flowing for tourists with space in the Port for those arriving today.
‘Travellers are asked to contact their ferry operator for their travel updates & sailing times.’
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It added that ferry operators were working to get freight traffic through the port as swiftly as possible.
But yesterday there were queues of up to nine hours outside the key crossing point, the boss of the British Ports Association, Richard Ballantyne admitted on BBC Breakfast on Sunday.
Videos showed huge tailbacks on Saturday, when drivers had been forced to wait for hours to board ferries after measures were triggered to control the movement of HGVs in the area.
The cross-Channel situation was dealt a further blow when a DFDS ferry had an accident and was damaged in high winds on Thursday.
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
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