‘An absolute disgrace’ - Bristol Airport apologise for huge security queues triggered by ‘IT failure’

Bristol Airport has apologised for an IT glitch that triggered mammoth queues at the site this morning.

There have been a wave of problems at the airport over the summer, including flight cancellations and delays along with lengthy waits at baggage claim- although things seem to have improved over recent weeks.

But this morning (Wednesday, July 27) issues emerged again when automatic gates that read boarding cards suffered an IT failure, sparking huge queues at security.

Twitter user @cyn0p was one of the many people stuck in the queues this morning, and branded the whole operation an ‘absolute disgrace’.

Brian Hill (@brianrhill) reported that only three out of 10 security lanes were open when he arrived, but that the security staff were ‘great’ and ‘doing the best they can’.

A spokesperson for the airport said that the fault was fixed by 4.30am but because this is the site’s busiest period, it meant that queues ‘quickly built up’.

They added: “We’re sorry to all passengers affected. Security queues right now are less than 15 minutes.”

In May the airport was accused of ‘over capacity’ as passengers waited 50 minutes to get through security and 30 minutes for check in.

It is thought that airports across the country have been struggling due to staff shortages along with an influx of passengers as Covid fears lift.