Security, Immigration & Border Control

[G-MANS]

...it seems like plans are to replace the escalators with four lifts. That's going to be a terrible "improvement". Imagine the chaos during peak summer with everyone queuing to get in the lifts to get up from check-in to security.

Back on the topic of the infrastructure itself, who'd have guessed the lifts would be a huge mistake...

Will be trying the new area out in a week or two. Arriving by train will I be forced down the stairs on the scaffolding and up through the lifts? Had to do that a few times while the work was ongoing but guessing maybe not now?

Anyone wise to when work starts on developing the old security hall in to restaurants etc?

 

[Matt995]

todays departure times taken from FR24:-

ETD	Flight No	To	Airline	Aircraft (Reg)	Status	Early/Late
05:55	LH959	Frankfurt (FRA)	Lufthansa	A320 (D-AIZT)	Departed 06:28	00:33
05:55	LS1381	Olbia (OLB)	Jet2	B738 (G-GDFR)	Departed 06:19	00:24
06:00	FR9378	Seville (SVQ)	Ryanair	B738 (EI-DCJ)	Departed 06:44	00:44
06:00	KL1040	Amsterdam (AMS)	KLM	B738 (PH-BCE)	Departed 06:22	00:22
06:00	BY7702	Kavala (KVA)	Fly4 Airlines	B738 (EI-FFD)	Departed 06:15	00:15
06:00	BY7708	Faro (FAO)	TUI	B38M (G-TUMT)	Departed 07:05	01:05
06:00	BY7722	Pafos (PFO)	TUI	B738 (G-TAWX)	Departed 06:33	00:33
06:10	LS1329	Preveza (PVK)	Jet2	B738 (G-JZHO)	Departed 06:48	00:38
06:10	LS1349	Zakynthos (ZTH)	Jet2	B738 (G-JZHM)	Departed 06:51	00:41
06:15	AF1565	Paris (CDG)	Air France	E190 (F-HBLB)	Departed 06:35	00:20
06:15	RK6885	Tirana (TIA)	Ryanair	B38M (EI-IGO)	Departed 06:24	00:09
06:15	BY7748	Dubrovnik (DBV)	TUI	B738 (G-TUKW)	Departed 07:14	00:59
06:20	LS1111	Lanzarote (ACE)	Jet2	A21N (G-SUNF)	Departed 06:38	00:18
06:20	LS1125	Corfu (CFU)	Jet2	B738 (G-JZBO)	Departed 06:57	00:37
06:25	FR661	Dublin (DUB)	Ryanair	B738 (EI-EBZ)	Departed 06:49	00:24
06:25	BY7752	Kefalonia (EFL)	Fly4 Airlines	B738 (EI-FFC)	Departed 06:54	00:29
06:25	U26617	Enfidha (NBE)	easyJet	A20N (G-UZHD)	Departed 07:03	00:38
06:30	BY740	Boa Vista (BVC)	TUI	B38M (G-TUMN)	Departed 07:18	00:48
06:40	LS1215	Alicante (ALC)	Jet2	A321 (G-HLYB)	Departed 07:08	00:28
06:45	LS1221	Faro (FAO)	Jet2	A321 (G-HLYA)	Departed 07:16	00:31
06:45	BY7706	Palma de Mallorca (PMI)	TUI	B738 (G-TAWV)	Departed 07:00	00:15
07:00	LS1337	Barcelona (BCN)	Jet2	B738 (OM-IEX)	Departed 07:21	00:21
07:00		Newcastle (NCL)	Jet2	B738 (G-DRTP)	Departed 07:34	00:34
07:15	LS1213	Athens (ATH)	Jet2	B738 (OM-JEX)	Departed 07:44	00:29
07:20	U26609	Larnaca (LCA)	easyJet	A320 (G-EZOF)	Departed 07:31	00:11
07:30	LS1275	Palma de Mallorca (PMI)	Jet2	A321 (G-HLYF)	Departed 08:48	01:18
07:35	FR2156	Malaga (AGP)	Ryanair	B738 (EI-EFN)	Departed 08:58	01:23
07:45	LS1203	Malaga (AGP)	Jet2	A21N (G-SUNH)	Departed 08:21	00:36
07:55	FR1224	Zadar (ZAD)	Lauda Europe	A320 (9H-IHL)	Departed 08:35	00:40
07:55	BY7712	Heraklion (HER)	TUI	B738 (G-TUKR)	Departed 08:27	00:32
08:00	FR1998	Perpignan (PGF)	Ryanair	B738 (EI-EVA)	Departed 08:23	00:23
08:00	LS1227	Rome (FCO)	Jet2	B738 (G-GDFC)	Departed 08:14	00:14
08:00	BY7754	Rhodes (RHO)	Go2Sky	B738 (OM-GTJ)	Departed 08:51	00:51
08:00	U26661	Belfast (BFS)	easyJet	A320 (G-EZTD)	Departed 08:08	00:08
08:00	U27842	Amsterdam (AMS)	easyJet	A20N (OE-LSF)	Departed 08:10	00:10
08:10	FR2711	Ibiza (IBZ)	Ryanair	B38M (EI-IJS)	Departed 08:18	00:08
08:15	W43020	Bucharest (OTP)	Wizz Air	A21N (HA-LGL)	Departed 08:59	00:44
08:15	EI263	Dublin (DUB)	Aer Lingus	A320 (EI-EDS)	Departed 08:34	00:19
08:25	BY7750	Malaga (AGP)	TUI	B789 (G-TUIL)	Departed 08:46	00:21
08:40	LS1309	Venice (VCE)	Jet2	B738 (G-JZHS)	Departed 09:30	00:50
08:50	LS1261	Split (SPU)	Jet2	B738 (G-DRTT)	Departed 09:10	00:20
09:10	LH953	Frankfurt (FRA)	Lufthansa	CRJ9 (D-ACNP)	Departed 09:51	00:41
09:15	W62218	Budapest (BUD)	Wizz Air	A21N (HA-LVK)	Departed 09:28	00:13
09:25	FR3703	Lisbon (LIS)	Ryanair	B738 (EI-EBZ)	Departed 10:20	00:55
09:25	U27254	Palma de Mallorca (PMI)	easyJet	A320 (OE-INE)	Departed 10:24	00:59
10:00	XQ697	Dalaman (DLM)	SunExpress	B738 (TC-SEJ)	Departed 10:10	00:10
10:00	C67622	Tashkent (TAS)	My Freighter	B763 (UK67009)	Departed 10:27	00:27
10:30	AF1165	Paris (CDG)	Air France	E190 (F-HBLV)	Departed 10:57	00:27
10:35	KL1044	Amsterdam (AMS)	KLM	B737 (PH-BGQ)	Departed 10:45	00:10
10:45	TK1968	Istanbul (IST)	Turkish Airlines	A321 (TC-JTA)	Departed 11:03	00:18
10:50	LH2509	Munich (MUC)	Lufthansa	A20N (D-AINR)	Departed 11:14	00:24
11:15	U26621	Berlin (BER)	easyJet	A320 (G-EZTD)	Departed 11:11	-00:04
11:40	BY242	Cancun (CUN)	TUI	B788 (G-TUIE)	Departed 11:56	00:16
11:40	ET8735	Madrid (MAD)	Ethiopian Airlines	A359 (ET-AVD)	Departed 12:42	01:02
11:55	LM64	Aberdeen (ABZ)	Loganair	E145 (G-SAJL)	Departed 12:11	00:16
12:20	EI3265	Dublin (DUB)	Aer Lingus Regional	AT76 (EI-GPO)	Departed 12:46	00:26
12:30	FR663	Dublin (DUB)	Ryanair	B738 (EI-DCJ)	Departed 13:08	00:38
12:30	U226	Belfast (BFS)	easyJet	A319 (G-EZBR)	Departed 12:50	00:20
12:50	LS1263	Mahon (MAH)	Jet2	B738 (G-GDFR)	Departed 13:05	00:15
13:00	LH955	Frankfurt (FRA)	Lufthansa	A319 (D-AIBB)	Departed 13:30	00:30
13:10	KL1046	Amsterdam (AMS)	KLM	E295 (PH-NXL)	Departed 13:26	00:16
13:35	BY7760	Zakynthos (ZTH)	TUI	B738 (G-TAWV)	Departed 14:36	01:01
13:40	FR1212	Bydgoszcz (BZG)	Ryanair	B738 (EI-EVA)	Departed 15:30	01:50
13:40	PC1184	Istanbul (SAW)	Pegasus	A21N (TC-RDS)	Departed 15:10	01:30
13:45	FR3691	Knock (NOC)	Ryanair	B38M (EI-IGO)	Departed 14:30	00:45
13:50	AF1315	Paris (CDG)	Air France	E190 (F-HBLL)	Departed 14:08	00:18
13:50	LS1355	Kalamata (KLX)	Jet2	B738 (OM-IEX)	Departed 14:24	00:34
14:00	TE623	Ostrava (OSR)	Skytaxi	B763 (SP-MRG)	Departed 14:32	00:32
14:15	FR5074	Poznan (POZ)	Ryanair	B738 (SP-RSL)	Departed 14:40	00:25
14:15	BY522	Sharm el-Sheikh (SSH)	TUI	B38M (G-TUMT)	Departed 15:16	01:01
14:15	XC8120	Antalya (AYT)	Corendon Airlines	B38M (TC-MKD)	Departed 15:53	01:38
14:25	U2334	Edinburgh (EDI)	easyJet	A320 (G-EZUZ)	Departed 15:51	01:26
14:30	LS1147	Larnaca (LCA)	Jet2	A321 (G-HLYB)	Departed 15:25	00:55
14:30	LS1325	Mytilene (MJT)	Jet2	B738 (G-DRTE)	Departed 15:43	01:13
14:30	SV250	Jeddah (JED)	Saudia	B789 (HZ-AR12)	Departed 15:02	00:32
14:35	EK40	Dubai (DXB)	Emirates	A388 (A6-EOR)	Departed 15:21	00:46
14:40	LS1327	Gran Canaria (LPA)	Jet2	A321 (G-HLYA)	Departed 15:12	00:32
14:45	FR3247	Fuerteventura (FUE)	Ryanair	B38M (EI-IJS)	Departed 15:19	00:34
14:45	VY8755	Barcelona (BCN)	Vueling	A320 (EC-MBF)	Departed 15:39	00:54
14:55	QR34	Doha (DOH)	Qatar Airways (25 Years of Excellence Sticker)	B788 (A7-BCW)	Departed 15:35	00:40
15:10	EI3647	Belfast (BHD)	Aer Lingus Regional	AT76 (G-CMMT)	Departed 15:26	00:16
15:10	LS1119	Antalya (AYT)	Jet2	B738 (G-GDFC)	Departed 16:15	01:05
15:10	LS1365	Heraklion (HER)	Jet2	B738 (G-JZBO)	Departed 16:48	01:38
15:15	FR3738	Cork (ORK)	Ryanair	B738 (EI-EBK)	Departed 15:57	00:42
15:15	LS1347	Rhodes (RHO)	Jet2	B738 (G-JZHS)	Departed 15:55	00:40
15:20	LS1351	Skiathos (JSI)	Jet2	B738 (G-JZHO)	Departed 16:32	01:12
15:20	U26613	Corfu (CFU)	easyJet	A20N (G-UZHD)	Departed 16:03	00:43
15:30	BY7780	Larnaca (LCA)	TUI	B738 (G-TUKW)	Departed 16:12	00:42
15:30	GR707	Guernsey (GCI)	RAF-Avia	SF34 (YL-RAL)	Departed 17:32	02:02
15:35	LM638	Isle of Man (IOM)	Loganair	AT76 (G-LMTA)	Departed 15:43	00:08
15:40	LS1151	Pafos (PFO)	Jet2	A21N (G-SUNH)	Departed 17:37	01:57
15:50	LS1127	Dalaman (DLM)	Jet2	B738 (G-JZHM)	Departed 16:35	00:45
15:55	BY624	Dalaman (DLM)	Fly4 Airlines	B738 (EI-FFD)	Departed 16:44	00:49
16:10	LS1135	Fuerteventura (FUE)	Jet2	B738 (G-DRTT)	Departed 16:51	00:41
16:10	U27844	Amsterdam (AMS)	easyJet	A319 (OE-LKV)	Departed 16:42	00:32
16:15	FR718	Paris (BVA)	Ryanair	B738 (EI-EFN)	Departed 16:27	00:12
16:15	FR3421	Bucharest (OTP)	Ryanair	B738 (EI-EBZ)	Departed 17:20	01:05
16:20	U26627	Malaga (AGP)	easyJet	A320 (G-EZTD)	Departed 17:01	00:41
16:30	BY7762	Lanzarote (ACE)	TUI	B38M (G-TUMO)	Departed 17:43	01:13
16:35	FR490	Girona (GRO)	Ryanair	B38M (EI-IHK)	Departed 17:26	00:51
16:35	RK1622	Marrakesh (RAK)	Ryanair	B738 (EI-EFC)	Departed 17:35	01:00
16:40	LS1335	Tenerife (TFS)	Jet2	A21N (G-SUNF)	Departed 18:11	01:31
16:40	EI3275	Dublin (DUB)	Aer Lingus Regional	AT76 (EI-GPN)	Departed 20:49	04:09
16:45	LS1245	Ibiza (IBZ)	Jet2	B738 (OM-JEX)	Departed 18:04	01:19
16:45	XQ597	Antalya (AYT)	SunExpress	B738 (YR-HLB)	Departed 19:06	02:21
16:55	BY7732	Kos (KGS)	TUI	B789 (G-TUIL)	Departed 18:58	02:03
16:55	BY7740	Tenerife (TFS)	Fly4 Airlines	B738 (EI-FFC)	Departed 18:16	01:21
17:05	FR2266	Malaga (AGP)	Ryanair	B38M (EI-IGO)	Departed 18:47	01:42
17:10	FR667	Dublin (DUB)	Ryanair	B738 (EI-DHD)	Departed 18:08	00:58
17:10	EI3645	Belfast (BHD)	Aer Lingus Regional	AT76 (G-CMMN)	Departed 18:43	01:33
17:15	TK1970	Istanbul (IST)	Turkish Airlines	A321 (TC-JTD)	Departed 19:11	01:56
17:20	FR2083	Madrid (MAD)	Ryanair	B38M (EI-IHG)	Departed 19:17	01:57
17:40	AF1065	Paris (CDG)	Air France	A320 (F-GKXL)	Departed 19:38	01:58
17:40	LH2511	Munich (MUC)	Lufthansa	A319 (D-AIBL)	Departed 19:08	01:28
17:40	KL1048	Amsterdam (AMS)	Privilege Style	A321 (EC-NLJ)	Departed 19:33	01:53
17:55	U2428	Glasgow (GLA)	easyJet	A20N (G-UZHC)	Departed 19:00	01:05
18:05	LH957	Frankfurt (FRA)	Lufthansa	A20N (D-AINC)	Departed 19:18	01:13
18:10	BY388	Antalya (AYT)	TUI	B738 (G-TAWX)	Departed 19:29	01:19
18:40	EI3639	Belfast (BHD)	Aer Lingus Regional	AT76 (G-CMMT)	Departed 19:19	00:39
18:50	FR1562	Verona (VRN)	Ryanair	B738 (EI-EFN)	Departed 20:26	01:36
18:50	BY7786	Corfu (CFU)	TUI	B738 (G-TUKR)	Departed 20:06	01:16
18:55	LX425	Zurich (ZRH)	Swiss	BCS3 (HB-JCH)	Departed 20:52	01:57
19:00	U26605	Paris (CDG)	easyJet	A320 (G-EZOF)	Departed 20:19	01:19
19:05	U230	Belfast (BFS)	easyJet	A319 (G-EZDF)	Departed 21:04	01:59
19:10	EW9331	Dusseldorf (DUS)	Eurowings	A320 (D-ABZI)	Departed 20:28	01:18
19:10	BY7714	Ibiza (IBZ)	Go2Sky	B738 (OM-GTJ)	Departed 20:21	01:11
19:15	7L394	Baku (GYD)	Silk Way West Airlines	B744 (4K-BCI)	Departed 19:57	00:42
19:20	FR2911	Faro (FAO)	Ryanair	B738 (EI-EVS)	Departed 20:35	01:15
19:25	FR5103	Milan (BGY)	Ryanair	B738 (EI-EVA)	Departed 21:54	02:29
19:30	SI2271	Jersey (JER)	Blue Islands	AT75 (G-ISLL)	Canceled
19:35	LS1361	Palma de Mallorca (PMI)	Jet2	B738 (G-GDFR)	Departed 20:33	00:58
19:40	EI3649	Belfast (BHD)	Aer Lingus Regional	AT76 (G-CMJJ)	Departed 20:10	00:30
19:45	FR2162	Palma de Mallorca (PMI)	Ryanair	B738 (EI-EMM)	Departed 21:32	01:47
19:45	FR3793	Barcelona (BCN)	Ryanair	B738 (EI-EMK)	Departed 22:07	02:22
19:45	AI118	Amritsar (ATQ)	Air India	B788 (VT-ANA)	Departed 21:43	01:58
19:55	LM68	Aberdeen (ABZ)	Loganair	E145 (G-SAJL)	Departed 22:29	02:34
20:15	FR8083	Warsaw (WMI)	Ryanair	B738 (SP-RNI)	Departed 21:17	01:02
20:50	EI277	Dublin (DUB)	Aer Lingus	A320 (EI-DVE)	Departed 21:59	01:09
21:00	U2336	Edinburgh (EDI)	easyJet	A320 (G-EZWB)	Departed 21:49	00:49
21:00	XQ397	Dalaman (DLM)	SunExpress	B738 (TC-SPR)	Departed 21:27	00:27
21:10	SK2536	Copenhagen (CPH)	SAS	CRJ9 (EI-FPR)	Departed 22:05	00:55
21:25	BY7758	Palma de Mallorca (PMI)	TUI	B38M (G-TUMN)	Departed 22:03	00:38
21:40	U2432	Glasgow (GLA)	easyJet	A319 (G-EZDX)	Departed 22:42	01:02
21:40	EK38	Dubai (DXB)	Emirates	B77W (A6-ENA)	Departed 21:52	00:12
22:00	U234	Belfast (BFS)	easyJet	A319 (G-EZDJ)	Departed 22:10	00:10
22:05	FR669	Dublin (DUB)	Ryanair	B738 (EI-EBF)	Departed 23:33	01:28

was the Blue Island tech again, of did the security delays mean the flight was too late to meet the Jersey curfew?

Do the airlines who have experienced delays, have any recourse to claim compensation back from the airport, if the delays are casued by the security delays/queues?

maybe this might just give the airport management the wake up call to get this mess sorted asap!

 

[Jon Dempsey]

Is it possible the airport have staffing issues such as training for the new scanners. I'm not trying to make excuses but I very much doubt this is the new norm.

That is a disgraceful error on the part of management. Volumes have been forecast and therefore there should be the correct number of staff to cope.

What a shambles.

 

[rollo]

"I had a dream" curtesy of Martin Luther King.

Video from the airport re the 4 new lifts:-

Birmingham New Lifts

Posted by Matt a while back

 

[smitha1]

I agree that the whole thing seems to be shambolic and just awful PR.

Having flown loads recently from other airports due to price, now have several flights booked from BHX and dreading them all after latest experience. Many people will feel the same.

I really think as previously said, airlines might start voting with their feet or by reducing schedules etc. which will be a disgrace after the great expansion we’ve had recently with EZY, QR etc. I dread to think the number of missed connections, rebooking etc. needed yesterday caused by delays. Twitter was full of complaints from people queuing 3+ hours, missed flights, people collapsing, just looks like carnage.

 

[Nibbles]

Arrived at airport at 6:25, completed security at 7:25. Fine really. I think it's fairly clear that it isn't a streamlined operation yet, and success cannot be judged until the work is complete.

The new security area is very spacious. Good.

Lifts would be better if they had doors at both ends, though!

 

[KARFA]

Arrived at airport at 6:25, completed security at 7:25. Fine really. I think it's fairly clear that it isn't a streamlined operation yet, and success cannot be judged until the work is complete.

The new security area is very spacious. Good.

Lifts would be better if they had doors at both ends, though!

was that 1 hour just for security, or does that include waiting at check in as well?

 

[Deleted member 8277]

Nope, your choice is one of four lifts, that's it! All of the free flowing escalators have now gone.

Courtesy of @ Cengizquatra on X.

I notice BHX are very quiet about the carnage yesterday afternoon. Was the incident at north security caused by queuing passenger frustration? The picture tells a thousand words and X will show some more of the aftermath passengers had to endure.

Lots of passengers missed flights yesterday afternoon and many flights delayed due to the aftermath. I bet the airlines are fuming and will demand answers from the airport.

About the access to departures by the lifts.
There is only one way in and one way of each lift so physically impossible to have doors at both ends. It doesn't matter if there were 10 lifts or 10 escalator's or available stairs for pax to use from the ground floor to security, the fact of the matter is when its busy the queue out of security goes back to the lifts upstairs so any method of travel upstairs there is physically nowhere to go and passengers will be held until more room becomes available.

Anyway according to some we don't really have a problem because its only down to the ongoing building work that BHX have said is completed.

Arrived at airport at 6:25, completed security at 7:25. Fine really. I think it's fairly clear that it isn't a streamlined operation yet, and success cannot be judged until the work is complete.

The new security area is very spacious. Good.

Lifts would be better if they had doors at both ends, though!

As a matter of interest how many lanes are there in the new security compared to the old one? and do you think it will easily handle 18m pax going forward.
Its sounds like you had a great experience I am really pleased for you. A minority people must just be unlucky lately. Roll on completion and an end to the occasional queue giving passengers a enjoyable seamless transition through security to enjoy the departures hospitality.

 

[TM3]

Honestly I don't think 1 hour to get through security is a "good" experience, in fact compared to most airports it's poor. I really hope that the airport aspires to better than this.

If I arrived at any LHR terminal I would expect to and typically be able to get through security in 15 minutes.

If BHX want passengers to "choose" BHX over other airports these experiences need to be more than OK, or good enough, they need to be superior to the security experience at other airports.

It's one thing to find fault when the setup is old and needs replacing to the situation when you have been able to build a new clean sheet experience. It the build was really "state of the art" as we keep being told the airport would have really got a handle on where time is wasted in the old process, where as it seems like they think it's all about liquids and laptops.

If they'd have got it right it could have put BHX on the map for the right reasons rather than being used with terms like chaos and carnage..

 

[Deleted member 8277]

Back on the topic of the infrastructure itself, who'd have guessed the lifts would be a huge mistake...

Will be trying the new area out in a week or two. Arriving by train will I be forced down the stairs on the scaffolding and up through the lifts? Had to do that a few times while the work was ongoing but guessing maybe not now?

Anyone wise to when work starts on developing the old security hall in to restaurants etc?

Barriers are in operation guiding you to a lift with eagle eyed staff forcing you to use a lift down. This is only when there is the very very occasional queue that might make it necessary and with no queue there is no restriction.

 

[TM3]

Nevertheless, being sent downstairs to queue to get a lift back upstairs again is something that is going to look really stupid to passengers.

 

[Jon Dempsey]

If I arrived at any LHR terminal I would expect to and typically be able to get through security in 15 minutes.

I flew from Schiphol at evening rush hour recently. It took 15 minutes to go from bag-drop at the busy KLM desks to the restaurants above duty free.

A friend flew to Frankfurt this morning. This is the carnage. It took 1hour 20 minutes from outside to duty free - longer than his flight!

 

[Deleted member 8277]

Nothing a bit of streamlining wont sort out. Don't forget other posters have no problems, so this is irrelevant. Soon there wont be any queues due to the large efficient security area being finished.

 

[MB1]

Nevertheless, being sent downstairs to queue to get a lift back upstairs again is something that is going to look really stupid to passengers.

More so than the general situation of security queues snaking out the terminal and halfway up the airport access roads?!

The situation of entering the terminal at the Air Rail station and then being made to go downstairs is stupid, but is a small symptom of the much bigger problem - seemingly a completely mismanaged project.

 

[JF57]

I wrote to Nick Barton over the weekend. I did not expect a reply but I did get a long reply today.

It appears to offer hope of a resolution in 6 weeks' time. I leave it to you to draw your own conclusions without further comment from me.


Hello Mr Ford

Thank you for taking the time to contact me.

We are just concluding a 15 month construction programme to meet the governments deadline for all large UK airports to have “Standard 3” passenger screening equipment in place by 1st June 2024 . To give you an idea of scale of the challenge the new screening machinery has cost us £10 million and the cost of the works to fit the machines into our terminal a further £50 million pounds. Throughout this we have remained an operating airport and some 15 million passengers have effectively walked through a major building site in that time.

The complexity of the works and the operational challenges to switch to the new security systems have been immense and for several months most passenger queuing space pre-security has been temporarily located downstairs. It is this feature that is covered by social media.

Last month we handled well over a million passengers, almost all of whom had a perfectly reasonable experience. Even for those whose queue for security that may have started on the ground-floor might typically around 30-40 minutes to clear security. This can be longer at certain times but equally can be very much less. The key, is of course, get to the airport in plenty of time.

As I mentioned earlier, this is a highly complex challenge for any of the larger UK airports and as such it is only Birmingham Airport that has managed to meet the 1st June deadline, most other airports haven’t and some cases it will be many months before they do.

Birmingham’s transition to the new standard has come at significant impact to our customer experience but we are nearing completion of the whole project within the next six weeks. After this point I expect significant improvements, the new machinery is truly impressive allowing passengers to be able to leave all laptops and liquids in their bags in due course.

I hope this helps give some clarity to the situation.

Nick Barton

 

[rollo]

At least I give the man all credit for replying personally in reasonable detail at what must be a difficult time to put it mildly however the buck stops on his desk and there is no doubt the "temporary " situation has been managed very poorly.

 

[Jon Dempsey]

Just looked at the BHX departures board - still total carnage tonight.

I refuse to comment much further on the bases I would end up breaking every forum rule in the book.

I do have a question though. How does the fast pass work in the current fiasco because do you go directly to the boarding card scanners after checking in otherwise it ain't fast pass.

We have the privilege to experiencing this dogs dinner on 12th June at 06:40 with TUI to Verona, bag drop not really practical for us due to the distance we live from the airport.

It's just pathetic.

Hi Rollo,

We will be off on the following Wednesday. Taxi is booked to get up to the airport for 03:30, which fits in with our scheduled departure @ 06:25.

Just hope it's not peeing down that morning!!

 

[JF57]

At least I give the man all credit for replying personally in reasonable detail at what must be a difficult time to put it mildly however the buck stops on his desk and there is no doubt the "temporary " situation has been managed very poorly.

I agree. It might help if something like his reply to me was issued to the media if it has not been issued already. I does, at least, offer some hope where currently there is none. As you say, however, it doesn't explain or excuse the current chaos.

 

[Jon Dempsey]

I wrote to Nick Barton over the weekend. I did not expect a reply but I did get a long reply today.

It appears to offer hope of a resolution in 6 weeks' time. I leave it to you to draw your own conclusions without further comment from me.

Whether the airport lives up to the PR agency's script remains to be seen.

I remain cynical - I note an additional 6 weeks has now been added on to the timescale despite media releases to The Times etc. Strange this new completion date coincides with the start of the school holidays - maybe this was the original target!!!

 

[TM3]

I don't think that was the original target.

Strikes me more as - we really hope it's sorted by the school holidays as we'd rather not think about how bad it will be if it isn't.

All credit to Mr Barton for replying but it seems like some of the same old PR speak. It's not just the fact that the queue is outside the airport, the queuing time is way too long.