Scenes of chaos were filmed at airports as travellers were forced to queue for hours to have their liquids screened after the British government announced a new policy on carry-on baggage.
Footage showed long queues on Friday outside Birmingham airport in the West Midlands, where confusion has erupted over new rules banning travellers from carrying more than about 3 ounces (100 ml) of liquids in their carry-on bags. The Sun reported..
“Huge disaster at Birmingham airport. Three lanes of queues at 4am,” X passenger Russell White said. I posted a video Several lines had formed outside the airport early Friday morning.
Russell White (via Storyful)
Swans
In another video, a female passenger claims that she had to queue for hours because of crowded security checkpoints, and that she would have missed her flight if it hadn’t been delayed by 45 minutes.
It’s the second time airports have faced long wait times since the Department of Transport suddenly changed its policy on carry-on liquids last weekend.
But airport officials said Friday’s congestion was also due to a staffing shortage.
“We truly regret that queues at security checks were longer than usual this morning,” the spokesman said. He told The Telegraph.
“This is primarily due to staff illness and we are working with our security partners to resolve it.”
The airport said it has installed state-of-the-art security scanners to help implement the new policy.
“New security scanners have been installed at Bristol Airport. Passengers are advised to pack all items containing up to 100ml of liquids in their hand baggage,” the airport said in a statement.
