Birmingham Airport Bank holiday travel warning as BHX apologises

Passengers travelling from Birmingham Airport today and tomorrow have been issued a warning over travel. The airport said more than 100,000 people were expected to fly over this bank holiday weekend and into Monday (May 6).

If accurate, that would be an increase of 24 per cent when compared to how many travelled at the same time last year. Holidaymakers have recently complained of major delays at BHX - with some even missing their flights.

Passengers were pictured in long queues in check-in areas - before even reaching security - due to on-going building works and escalators being out of service. BHX said the work was being carried out to build a more "streamlined" security area.

Improvement work has been going on for more than a year. The airport told the BBC that issues with security lanes had been compounded by busy conditions of its peak departure schedule.

An airport spokesperson told the broadcaster: "The new queuing area for security is mainly downstairs, as a large part of the upstairs security queuing has been removed as part of the construction." Al Titterington, terminal operations director, said construction had removed a "significant" area of space which had been "very challenging".

He added: "We have worked closely with our contractors and operational teams to keep the airport operating. We know, at times, there have been instances where our service level has dropped below what we would aim to deliver. For those instances we apologise to our customers."

What time should I arrive for my flight?

Birmingham Airport told the BBC that holidaymakers should always check with their airlines on what time to arrive for travel. Check-ins usually open around four hours before a long-haul flight, or two to three hours for shorter journeys.

An airport spokesperson said: "Each airline has its own check-in time and customers are reminded to turn up in line when their check-in opens. This detail can be found on their booking."

Passengers who check-in online and have no hold baggage were advised to arrive three hours before departure time and to make their way straight to the security area. The airport added that customers travelling with Jet2 or TUI could drop their bags off the day before their flight should they wish to be extra safe.