Passengers at Glasgow Airport face long queues at security checks

John Morrison, from Glasgow, said he had never seen queues like this at the airport in Paisley.

Meanwhile, Glasgow Airport bosses have urged passengers to arrive at the airport for their airline’s specified check-in times, not earlier or later.

Ahead of the Jubilee bank holiday, they said the airport was the busiest it had been since the start of the pandemic.

Mr Morrison arrived early on Tuesday morning to catch his flight for a day-trip to London, when he was faced with the huge queues.

He said the reason was unclear, but it appeared that not enough security belts had been opened.

He told the Glasgow Times: “I had checked in online for a BA flight to Gatwick at 06.45am and arrived at the airport about an hour before scheduled departure.

"It’s a day trip and with no luggage to check-in I went straight to the escalator.

"There were hundreds of people waiting to get through the barriers before security.

"The queue was snaking around the first-floor shops all the way back to the car park entrance. This was 05.45am.”

"Most people seemed to be going on holiday and we’re in a good mood but no one could understand why the queues were so bad."

Crazy scenes before security barriers @GLA_Airport this morning. Queue snakes it’s way round the first floor shops and back into the car park. Never seen it this bad. Most people heading on holiday and in a good mood. If you’re flying today, arrive early. pic.twitter.com/8FHWaCeqF5

— John Morrison (@JoMoMMS) May 31, 2022

He added: "The security staff were doing their job as quickly as possible but it’s not a process you can rush, for obvious reasons.

"There didn’t seem to be enough security belts open."

Although the man eventually made his flight and has safely arrived in London, he was still faced with long queues through security despite purchasing the fast-track option.

Despite the inconvenience, he said "you will always find humour in a Glasgow queue".

"As we watched airline crew whistle through their staff priority checks, one woman in front of me joked: 'If this is going to be a regular thing, I’m going to buy a pilot’s uniform'.”

Mr Morrison took to Twitter to denounce the situation and more users confirmed they were stuck in unusually long queues at the airport recently.

One wrote: "I've never seen it as bad as this. Not least for those of us not going on holiday!"

Another commented: "Was terrible yesterday too for BA flights however, that doesn’t give the right for folk to yell at the check-in staff.

"Some people were being disgusting to the point 2 members of staff were threatening to leave. It’s not their fault."

A spokesperson for Glasgow Airport said: “This morning’s average queue time at security was longer than usual, however, passengers moved through at a steady pace to reach their flights.

“The airport is busier than it has been for more than two years as passenger demand continues to increase.

“Our teams are working extremely hard and we would ask passengers to ensure they come prepared for security inspection and, crucially, arrive at the airport as per their airline’s stated check-in opening time and not before.”

“We would like to take this opportunity thank our passengers for their patience.”

It comes as holidaymakers at airports across the UK face disruption this week.

EasyJet preemptively axed 240 flights over the weekend and cancellations are continuing. 

British Airways and TUI are also cancelling flights across the country. 

Huge queues have also been reported at other airports like Manchester, Bristol and London Gatwick.