Manchester Airport drafts in temporary staff to ease chaos and offers extra advice to passengers

Manchester Airport is drafting in temporary staff in a bid to ease continuing chaos.

Manchester Airport has confirmed the move after a nightmare weekend which saw passengers jumping barriers in fear of missing flights and people jostling in growing queues.

Travellers have branded the situation a shambles with hundreds of passengers left queuing for hours at check-in, security and baggage claim halls over the last few days.

Some passengers left the airport without their luggage after waiting too long to collect it – causing piles of unclaimed suitcases to pile up – while many have warned about safety fears as people pushed and shoved for space in the lengthy queues as they arrived.

As problems continued today the Airport apologised to passengers, blaming staffing shortages and recruitment, but it also issued advice to help reduce queues.

“The guidance to passengers is that they should arrive at the earliest time their airline recommends – which is usually when check-in for their flight opens.

“They should also reacquaint themselves with the rules on hand luggage, if they have not travelled in a long time, as any additional checks that have to be made on their bags will add to the wait time.”

The airport spokesperson admitted passengers’ experiences this weekend had fallen below the standard it aims to provide and added: “Manchester Airport apologises.”

It said it wanted to assure customers and colleagues that their safety and security would always be their first priority.

The spokesperson added: “Our whole industry is facing staff shortages and recruitment challenges at present, after the most damaging two years in its history. The removal of all travel restrictions after two years, coupled with the start of the summer travel season, has seen a rapid increase in passenger numbers, which is putting an enormous strain on our operation.”

It said it was doing all it could to recruit all the staff it needed to cope with demand but went on: “This is taking time due to the lengthy vetting and training processes involved.

“That is why we have been advising travellers that there may be, at times, longer queues than normal.

“Whenever this is the case, we do all we can to redeploy resources and prioritise passengers within queues as best we can.

“We are also aware that partners working on our site, such as baggage handling agents, are facing similar challenges. We will continue to support them in any way we can to deliver the best possible experience for customers during this challenging time.”