The second city’s main transport hub hit the headlines for all the wrong reasons in 2024. Works at the site, coupled with increased demand, and then a big security change led to queues of angry passengers snaking out of the terminal building.
But this wasn’t for just one day, it kept recurring throughout May and June. Passengers would show up for their flights and then have to endure hours of waiting, crawling forward, fretting if they’d make their flights on time.
I experienced the problems first-hand in the summer, flying out from Birmingham four times in the summer months and once more in September for good measure, four times following England and one time with my family.
Read more: I flew from Birmingham Airport and the journey back to BHX staggered me
So what was causing those horrific queues?
BirminghamLive started reported problems occurring with getting through security in in the middle of May with the first of our blogs on the issue. A snaking long line of people stood waiting to just get in the building, would become a familiar sight for more than a month this summer.
One family missed their flight despite arriving two hours and 30 minutes before their flight. Christopher Craske described the airport as ‘absolute chaos’ and added: “No one cares, it’s disgusting. Boys are absolutely gutted.”
A huge queue outside Birmingham Airport this morning, May 17
(Image: Aimee Francisco)
BHX bosses blamed the problems on construction works on the new security area and the outside queuing on ‘sunny weather’. A spokesperson then said: “Due to our ongoing construction works to build our new security search area, customers will find themselves queuing in unfamiliar areas. With the sunny morning we experienced today, we took the decision to queue our customers outside to ease congestion around the construction works.
“Whilst this looks unusual to our customers, and for this we apologise, we do make operational decisions daily to ensure the flow of customers through security.”
Read more: BHX says ‘we’re not Alton Towers’ over suggestions to appease those queueing
The airport had installed new state-of-the-art scanners in a new security area, which should have meant quicker checks. One thing to note was the old security area had 14 scanning machines, but the new one just seven.
These machines can check liquids and electronics, while still in the bags. No hunting to get your tablet, phone or mini-toiletries out before the bag is scanned. But with fewer machines to do the job, and in my experience not all of them being used, the queues built up day after day.
BirminghamLive reported significant problems at the airport, running live blogs on the chaos five times in May, and almost daily in June, 20 times in total. It was Groundhog Day for passengers, having to arrive hours earlier than normal to get through security and make their flights.
BHX chief executive Nick Barton warned passengers to ‘be prepared’ in June. He said the airport had expected new rules on liquids to be in place by the beginning of June, but when the Government insisted on the old 100ml rule remaining, the airport’s swish machines had to be reconfigured making the machines slower. He also blamed passengers for bringing more than the liquids limit – despite that rule being the same for years.
Birmingham Airport’s chief executive has said the changes to liquid rules for carry-on hand luggage have been “painful.” Pictured: Nick Barton, CEO of Birmingham Airport
(Image: Birmingham Live)
My first-hand experience of the queue nightmare
I witnessed the queue nightmare for myself in June. Having reported it and read other reports my colleagues had posted, I was at least forewarned and forearmed.
I flew from Birmingham to Düsseldorf on Sunday, June 17. And a month on from our first reports on the queuing issue was still alive and crawling. The ‘usual’ norm of arriving two hours before your flight for me was out of the window.
Having seen people queue for that amount of time and longer just to get the bags checked – let alone be at your departure gate 30 to 40 minutes before, three hours was a minimum. I’d arrived three hours and 20 minutes before, and with hand baggage only – enough surely?
The back of the queue to get through security at Birmingham Airport at 4.35am on Sunday, June 16
I posted the details of the queuing process on X – you can read it in all its grim detail here. Or watch the two-hour queue condensed to just over a minute here. But the queue for me was in four stages.
Despite arriving early at 4.25am for a 7.45am flight, the queue was already big. It took 30 minutes to get into the building. Another half an hour to get to the lift. To be fair, those with flights departing sooner were pulled out of the queue and able to skip some of it.
From arriving upstairs to scanning my boarding pass and getting within sight of the fancy bag scanners was another 30 minutes. And then half-hour more to get through them. Two hours in total. One thing I did notice was just 5 of the 7 scanning machines were being used – almost a third of the capacity not being used.
I compared that with my journey back from Düsseldorf Airport – using the old machines so electronics and liquids had to be removed and checked separately. Firstly, there was no queue to start with. Plenty of scanners and staff about. And even with faffing with my bag unpacking and repacking it – it took 11 minutes to get through security – albeit for an evening, not a morning flight.
Birmingham Airport queues improved – and quickly
Fast-forward four days, and I was back at BHX, this time to fly to Frankfurt in Germany. The experience was far better. The security queue was again out the door, but gazebo-type structures had been extended to provide more cover should it rain (or shine).
The queuing seemed to be on fast forward. I was in the queue later – around 6am for a slightly later flight. The queue seemed longer but moved quicker. It took 40 minutes to get inside the lifts, to go up to the boarding pass scanning point, rather than an hour.
There was a little annoyance being asked to move away from the lifts when the area was rammed. Then the ‘snake’ to get to boarding pass scanning slithered speedily. And kept moving the other side to the bag scanning room.
All told it took one hour 15 minutes to get through security. Still not best by German comparisons, but significantly quicker than the Sunday before. Phew! Maybe it was because it was a weekday and less travellers – but also, importantly, six bag scanners were being used not five. Twenty per cent more capacity!
My third trip out of BHX this summer, this time on July 10, was a world away from three and a bit weeks earlier. It was a Wednesday, again to Düsseldorf, and early. But there was no queue downstairs, let alone outside the building. You could
This was how you’d hope airport security would be. While there was a small queue to get to the bag scanners – it was near negligible. Start to finish in 20 minutes. And all seven of the bag scanning machines were being used.
I flew out of Birmingham twice more, once in August with my family and again in September to Dublin. I took the precaution of buying a FastTrack pass for £6 – a waste, the queue on September 7 was zero.
The queue gremlins did return once to the airport, on Friday 13th of all days in September. The airport said: “Due to a combination of unforeseen factors, including technical issues and a cancelled flight, for a short period this morning some passengers were queued outside the terminal.
“The vast majority of our passengers have not waited for more than 10 minutes over the summer and we are sorry this was not the experience for some this morning. The terminal is now clear and security is flowing efficiently.
“Not the return to chaos some are reporting and passengers should arrive at the airport allowing time advised by airlines, and not earlier.” Let’s hope for no more queue chaos in 2025…