Some passengers say they have faced long queues as they drop off their luggage at Manchester airport while families head abroad during the mid-May holidays, and people describe the wait as “embarrassing”. .
TUI passengers flying from the airport’s T2 on Saturday morning (May 28) said they had faced “hours” of queuing to leave their luggage before being able to queue for safety. At times, customers said some of the queues extended to the escalators of the sky tunnel outside the entrance to T2.
TUI said the airport is currently very busy due to the start of the first half of May and members of the TUI team were “working hard to check everyone in. They have asked passengers not to show up too soon. on flights “.
I Darbyshire, from Lostock, Bolton, is traveling to Dalaman, Turkey, with her husband and two children, Adam, 22, and Heather, 13. They arrived at the airport at 11:40 a.m. for their flight. from 3.45pm and said they joined the huge queues to pick up TUI’s suitcase on arrival.
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“The queue is almost the entire length of the link from the station and the Radisson to the T2 building,” Jo told MEN. “We expected the queues to be bad and maybe an hour, but it’s worse than that. We just hope the security isn’t that long.
“It took us more than an hour to get to the entrance of T2, where there is a huge queue for luggage collection.” I said it took them an hour and a half to get through the suitcase delivery queue, before heading to safety. “You can understand why people arrive so early when it’s like that,” he added. “It’s not the best way to start a vacation.”
TUI passengers at Manchester Airport’s T2 have lined up in front of the terminal entrance
Oliver Akroyd of Halifax tweeted this morning: “A shameful effort at check-in at T2 at @manairport. The queue is actually 1 mile long. You’ll need a lot of beer. [sic] to overcome that “.
Speaking to the MEN, Oliver, who travels to Menorca as part of a family of six, added: “The queue for all TUI flights is the entire length of the airlift. It takes about five minutes to walk the full length to join the back of the tail. We arrived at 11.15 and our flight is at 14.40. The process seems to be that TUI staff is selecting flights out of the queue as they approach the departure time.
“The staff handled the situation well, but there were unusual circumstances, which involved a huge, long queue where you were called in order depending on the departure of your flight. The result is that almost no one could have time to exit room “.
A TUI spokesman told MEN that Manchester Airport was currently very busy due to the start of mid-May and that TUI team members were “working hard to check everyone” and ” doing everything possible to limit queues “.
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On Friday (May 27), TUI issued a statement apologizing to those affected by the flight delays. In a statement, TUI said: “We would like to apologize to some of our customers who have suffered flight delays in recent days. As the UK’s largest holiday company, our priority is to bring holiday customers safe way.
“We continue to work closely with our airport partners to monitor the situation and continue to provide the best possible holiday experience to our customers. We are doing our best to limit flight delays, which may occur from time to time for various operational reasons. .
“On the rare occasions that there are flight delays, we will do our best to support our customers, through direct communications and providing overnight accommodation and transfers when needed, as well as meals and refreshments. We would like to remind customers that They arrive at the airport too early in advance of their flight, as this can contribute to delays in terminal queues.
Queues at TUI Baggage Collection and Check-in at Manchester Airport on Saturday (May 28)
“Standard check-in is open at least two and a half hours before departure time for short and medium-haul flights, and at least three and a half hours before departure for long-haul flights. We can offer more information on these services, as well as our tips for making your airport experience as smooth as possible. here.”
Manchester Airport said it could not comment on the queues of individual operators and that there are no problems with security queues today. The airport issued a similar statement on advising people not to arrive before three hours for their flights. A spokesman said: “The airport is asking passengers not to come earlier because they will not be able to check in with their airlines, which could lead to unnecessary waiting at terminals. Leaving a three-hour window will allow people to pass through security. and make your flights. “
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