TUI passengers smoke in a huge line at Birmingham Airport, so big it snakes out the front door

TUI confirmed a queue snaking out of Birmingham Airport today had formed as a result of a delayed flight to Cape Verde, as they apologized to affected travellers

Travel giant TUI has apologized to passengers who were stuck in a huge queue so big it snaked out the front door of a UK airport.

The sheer number of customers was the latest problem at Birmingham Airport as passengers were reportedly forced to wait hours for security screening amid a staffing crisis today.

A frustrated TUI passenger snapped photos showing the massive queue at around 11.30am this morning, Birmingham Live reports.

TUI confirmed that the issue was due to a delayed flight to Cape Verde and apologized to the travelers affected.

Earlier this week, the airport’s CEO admitted the travel chaos will continue for several more weeks due to a 12-week “delay” between hiring new employees.

A spokesman said: “We can confirm that some customers were experiencing longer wait times at Birmingham Airport due to a delayed TUI flight to Cape Verde this morning.

“We would like to apologize to the customers affected and thank them for their patience and understanding.” It was the last thing the airport needed after a few weeks of testing caused by a surge in passenger demand triggered by the easing of Covid restrictions, coupled with a delay in training and the deployment of new staff.

Earlier this week airport boss Nick Barton admitted the chaos would last for several weeks.

Speaking to BBC Radio WM, he blamed a 12-week “delay” between recruiting new staff and when they went live. He said: “It’s still the legacy of the industry that will be reactivated with the Government lifting the rules in mid-February.”

Mr Barton added: “It didn’t get a lot of traction because until the industry started to show it had a future, a lot of people didn’t want to come and start their careers with us. We made good progress with recruitment in February, but because we need to security check them, we can’t start training until then, there’s a delay of about 12 weeks.

“We’re seeing a speedy recovery in aviation, which is a blessing, but it needs to catch up with staff to ensure we can get back to our normal, very good level of service. Well over 99 percent of people caught their flights this weekend against this incredibly busy backdrop. We have now recruited all the people we need for the next three months.

“You’re in training, that’s the most important thing. They cannot be used until we have gone through the entire training process. By the end of May we should be in a much better place regarding this resource Key Thing [for passengers] is to show up when their airline says so, not sooner.”

In his most recent statement, a BHX spokesman said: “As always, our message to departing customers is to help us keep the queues moving by removing all liquids, gels, pastes and electrical items from your bags before our security x-ray scanners . “