The lines were so long that passengers flying from Manchester Airport to Spain had to stand in for three hours. There was no air conditioning or social distancing.
Ian Gold and his wife, along with their daughters, were scheduled to fly together but due to an ‘infuriating’ situation at the Airport their flight was delayed.
According to him, seven out of the ten security gates had been closed while only one boarding card was opened. This resulted in queues that grew and grew up to over 1,000.
Gold said that staff shortages were the root cause of the problem and claimed people in the line are talking about the cuts made to the airport.
Manchester Airport lost nearly 500 employees to redundancy in the last 12 months as a consequence of plummeting passengers and travel restrictions.
MailOnline was told by a spokesperson for the airport that the long security lines were caused by a greater number of passengers than anticipated and an increased rate of staff absence.
At the moment, passengers travelling from the UK to Spain need to complete and sign an online form for health controls. On arrival in Spain, they will have to present a QR code that was generated from this form.
Spain requires that tourists show evidence they’ve received two doses (or more) of the coronavirus vaccine. EU citizens and those traveling with EU citizens must also present proof.
Ian Gold claimed that his family was made to stand in line for three hours by Manchester Airport’s security staff on Sunday afternoon.
At 12:45 today, Mrs Gold started waiting at Manchester Airport with her two daughters. She arrived at the front 3 hours, 45 minutes later.
Calling it a ‘real disgrace’, Mr Gold said: ‘There’s old people with sticks and no where to sit, there’s no ventilation, there’s no social distancing.
“Seven security gates have been closed from 10. It is frustrating, but it is.
“Everybody is right next to the other.” There’s no air conditioning. It is hot. It is a terrible sight. It is not uncommon for people to be in their 70s or 80s to try to flee to their planes.
“The line just kept growing.”
Gold stated that only one of the boarding gate gates was open, and all others were off-limits.
The flight was supposed to leave at 4.10pm. However, it had to wait until 5.45pm because of queues.
He continued, “There was a man flying to Saudi Arabia in complete panic. The flight was either over or just about to take off.”
The woman was a mom of two children and tried to make it through. The area was not a disaster.
“This is very important. It is about social distance. It must be properly run.
‘I’ve never seen anything like it.’
The daughter of Mr Gold, who requested not to be identified, stated that the immigration staff told her that “loads” of employees had been fired and they were not being replaced because visitor numbers started increasing.
She stated that the queues were insane.
The queues can take up to three hours. No social separation, no air conditioning and literally everybody is crammed together.
“They pulled people out of queues who had missed their flights due to the queues.
‘I’m finally out of the queue, but we were in it for more than three hours.’
Gold claimed that the line was too long and that it was impossible to make friends. Manchester Airport spokesmen said that the long security lines were due to a larger number of passengers and an increased absence rate.
Today, a spokesperson from Manchester Airport told MailOnline that security lines have sometimes been longer than usual this weekend. It is because there are more passengers than anticipated and staff absent at a higher rate.
“Our customer support staff continues to make every effort to assist passengers.
The queue is being prioritized for travellers whenever possible. But we know that some people missed flights. As such, we work with the airlines and other agencies to make sure they have as many opportunities as possible.
“Due to extra pre-departures screenings, as countries update travel guidance, passengers must arrive no less than three hours prior to their flight departure time. If they are travelling with only hand luggage, they can be there up to two hours earlier. Passengers should also familiarise themselves with security rules, especially if they haven’t travelled for some time.
We apologize for any inconvenience that may have been caused to anyone and we are doing our best to remedy the problem as soon as possible.