Bristol Airport accused of ‘over capacity’ with huge queues and one flight departing every FOUR minutes

Bristol Airport has once again been deemed a ‘shambles’ by holidaymakers who faced queues of up to 85 minutes there this morning.

Customers have raised concerns that the airport is operating ‘over capacity’ with waiting times skyrocketing to 55 minutes for check-in and 30 minutes for security.

Live departure boards show that between 6am and 7am a total of 16 flights left the airport, equating to one flight every four minutes.

Passengers also reported having to wait up to 90 minutes for their baggage to emerge as well as exceptionally long queues for food outlets.

Chris Chillcot (@ChillyPics) said the queue at airport’s branch of Burger King, which appeared understaffed, was ‘so long’ he had to ask for a refund before he missed his flight.

Problems at the airport have been ongoing all month and are thought to be down to an influx of holidaymakers as Covid fears lift completely.

Tim Colston (@TenthAvenueL) has travelled through the airport twice in the last 10 days and tweeted the airport to vent his frustration.

He said: “Quite clearly you are over capacity. Security over an hour [queue[], bars packed no seating and tables piled with glasses, passport control massive [queues] every time. Awful experience. Your greed is appalling.”

Landing at the airport this morning on a TUI flight, Twitter user @Kate1978 said she and fellow passengers had to wait 45 minutes to get off the plane before waiting around 90 minutes for their baggage.

What Bristol Airport say

A spokesperson for the airport said: “We are sorry some customers experienced an above average check-in this morning during peak operation (Tuesday 24 May), where there was a queue time of up to 55 minutes.

“Although the airport is busy, queue times at security this morning were at or below average with an average security queue time of less than 30 minutes.

“We appreciate the frustration experienced by customers currently and please be reassured our teams are working exceptionally hard to assist customers throughout the airport journey.”

The spokesperson added that all business partners were continuing to recruit and train new colleagues, but ‘this takes time, with stringent security clearance required’.

The airport is currently advising customers to check with their airline when their check-in/ bag drop desk opens and arrive in the terminal at this time.

Customers are asked not to arrive early as they will not be able to check-in.