A top travel expert has issued some advice on Good Morning Britain today (May 10) as Britain’s airports struggle with staff shortages. In the last few days, unhappy customers have slammed Bristol Airport as ‘above average’ delays have affected passengers.
But Bristol Airport is not the only airport criticised as a ‘shambles’, as delays have been reported at others across the country including Manchester and Birmingham. To help those who are due to take off from one of the country’s busiest airports in the coming days, Simon Calder shared some travel tips to make their journeys a little smoother.
Simon has claimed that the current situation will ‘probably continue’, and has suggested that Britons should reassess what they are taking with them. The travel expert said: “Do not check in any baggage. If you want to go with British Airways for instance, they will allow you to take 46kg of hand luggage.
Read more: Bristol Airport ranked as worst in UK in new study
“Then, first of all, you’re not queuing up there. You’re not risking your luggage turning up in Athens when you’ve flown to Rome.”
Bristol Airport told Bristol Live yesterday that it advises all customers to “arrive in the terminal a minimum of two hours before scheduled flight departure time to allow sufficient time to complete all the necessary check-in, bag drop, security, and boarding processes ahead of their flight”. This morning, Simon urged passengers to not turn up too early before their flight.
He explained: “It sounds absolutely mad, but an awful lot of these queues are people who have got a flight at 10am turning up at 5am. Quite rationally for them because they think we’re got to guarantee we make this flight, but that means the people with flights at 7am are stuck behind people who have got flights much later so it’s very messy.
Long queues at Bristol Airport
(Image: @Ouradventure2)
“All that will happen is money will get thrown at it. Most people will get to where they want to be, but wherever you’re going, hope for the best, but be prepared for delay and disruption.”
Simon also said that today the situation should be a little better, as Tuesdays and Wednesdays are generally deemed to be an “awful lot quieter” at airports than the other days of the week. He suggested that airports may be asking security staff to work extra hours to combat queues.
People flying from Bristol Airport have experienced lengthy delays on more than one occasion in the last week, and a spokesperson for the airport has said that staff shortages and increased demand have caused issues. One passenger claimed that they had to wait 20 minutes for a bus to get off the plane, and over an hour to be reunited with their luggage, despite passengers that landed after them getting their suitcases back before.
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