Families at Birmingham Airport were left in distress, with 51 passengers, including children, missing their flight to Malaga after being caught up in massive security queues. One holidaymaker described the scene as passengers "standing in circles and crying" when they realised they wouldn't make their flight.
Slawomir Adamczyk, 42, along with his partner Agnieszka and their three children, aged 15, 7, and 2, were among those who missed their Ryanair flight to the popular Spanish destination. Slawomir, a sheet metal worker from Burton-on-Trent, recounted to BirminghamLive how families were devastated to learn that they would miss out on their holidays.
He was one of the 51 people escorted out of the security area to collect their luggage after enduring lengthy delays. Birmingham Airport is currently accessible only through four lifts to the security area due to ongoing construction work aimed at completing a new £50m+ state-of-the-art security hall by June. This has led to bottlenecks and long lines forming as travellers wait to proceed through security. For the latest Welsh news delivered to your inbox sign up to our newsletter
READ MORE:The islands that look like they should be in the Caribbean but are just 200 miles from Wales
READ MORE:How to claim flight delay compensation as worst UK airport for delays named in new investigation
Birmingham Airport expressed regret over the incident, stating they were "very sorry" about what Slawomir and others experienced. Meanwhile, Ryanair commented on the delays, clarifying that they were "entirely out of our control".
Slawomir shared: "My daughter was in tears and she had a few situations at school and I had thought this will do her really good and her mental health good. My little son was crying for an hour in the queue, I have never faced anything like it. It's the moral loss and the mental loss, the other families were standing in circles crying."
Recounting the chaos, which took place on Sunday March 31, Slawomir recounted: "There was a lot of people around very annoyed and wound up. Five to six flights had a final call, if you imagine five to six flights were going through it was kind of a bottle neck. No-one was moving forward."
The family expressed feeling disrespected, with Slawomir noting that travellers were treated like 'cattle'. He spoke of distressed children, unhelpful security staff, and congested queues exacerbated by multiple final calls for flights, creating a rush of passengers. He also mentioned that he had worked extra shifts to afford the holiday, but ultimately cancelled it when the only alternative offered was a shorter trip costing an additional £100 per person. Get the best user experience with WalesOnline’s Premium app on Apple or Android
A spokesperson from the airport stated: "We are very sorry to hear about Slawomir and his family's experience at Birmingham Airport. We can confirm that his complaint is now with our Complaints Resolution Team, who are investigating further to identify the failing on the day. We have also reached out to Slawomir for further details."
A spokesperson for Ryanair stated: "Due to airport security delays at Birmingham Airport, Ryanair passengers were advised via email (30 Mar) to arrive at least 3 hours before their scheduled departure time. We regret that these airport security delays at Birmingham Airport, which are entirely out of our control, caused passengers to miss this flight from Birmingham to Malaga (31 Mar)."
