Elderly passenger faints in huge airport queue

Elderly passenger reportedly faints in huge airport queue. Returning holidaymakers have been greeted with long queues at Heathrow airport and now Manchester airport is said to be struggling too.

Holidaymakers have faced hours of queues after Covid checks and backlogs have created delays. On Friday night one pregnant woman fainted and The Home Office said that the queues at the airport’s Terminal 5 were “unacceptable”.

According to Manchester Evening News, the situation has got worse at Manchester airport too. Sadly, one elderly person reportedly fainted due to the long queues.

One holidaymaker took to Twitter and said: “T2 dep security was pretty grim this morning.

“Very long queues, only 2 or 3 stations open because of “staff shortage”.

“Saw one elderly passenger faint in the queue . Not world class.”

Another person commented that: “Check in this morning at Manchester Airport an absolute shambles.

“Arrived just after desks opened at 7.00 for a 9.35 flight. Arguments between airport and easyJet staff. Not enough staff on desks.

“Couldn’t process the 4 flights without constantly changing priorities and queues.”

One person commented on the border control systems and said: “Do you really think it’s acceptable to have such inefficient border control systems at Manchester airport after the recent Heathrow farce?

“Hour long queues, zero ventilation and no social distancing whatsoever!”

The pandemic has had a noticeable effect on airport queues and a Home Office spokesperson said: “Throughout the pandemic we have been clear that queue times may be longer as we ensure all passengers are compliant with the health measures put in place to keep the UK public safe. However, the very long wait times we saw at Heathrow last night are unacceptable.

“This is the busiest weekend of the year for returning passengers, with particularly high numbers of families with children under the age of 12 who cannot use e-gates.

“Border Force is rapidly reviewing its rosters and capacity and flexibly deploying our staff across the airport to improve waiting times. We are working very closely with Heathrow Airport and its airlines and we are all committed to making sure all passengers can have a safe and hassle-free journey.”

A Manchester Airport spokesperson commented that: “We are aware that queues at the border this afternoon were longer than usual.

“Immigration checks are the responsibility of UK Border Force and we will review events with them to understand how these circumstances arose, and to ensure that passengers enjoy the best possible experience going forward.”

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