Ugly statistic doubles down on Birmingham Airport problems amid queue chaos

It comes just weeks after passengers from across the region lit up social media with images of snake-style queues trailing outside the building.

A score has been given to 12 different airports out of 100, for the longest traffic jam and queue times - with a higher score reflecting a longer wait.

Birmingham Airport ranked second in the 12-strong list, with a score of 54.9 out of 100. The airport sees 11.48 million passengers using the site per year, and 2.64 million cars passing through the area, passengers must combat longer queues inside and outside of the airport.

Passengers had to wait for an average of 24 minutes to get through Birmingham Airport’s security last year, and have faced far longer delays recently, which could get worse this summer as a result of the new liquid and technology scanning equipment and renovations.

The data, gathered by compensation experts claims.co.uk, combines local authority traffic data from airport regions, yearly terminal passenger data and security queue times to create a ranking of Britain’s airports and their efficiency.

This study comes as British airports have experienced delays due to changes in luggage liquid limits, power cuts, new technology and summer holiday rushes.

London Heathrow topped the ranking as the UK airport that passengers should arrive to the earliest with a score of 78.3 out of 100, primarily due to the delays caused by the 79.15 million yearly terminal passengers that travel through the site.

Bristol is third with a score of 54.7. Passengers here wait an average of 30 minutes to get through security - the second-longest wait in Britain. Plus, with 9.91 million yearly visitors and 2.26 million vehicles nearby, Bristol is a busy airport for its size.

Leeds Bradford Airport is fourth with a score of 51.4 out of 100. With an average wait time of 35 minutes to get through security, the airport has the longest wait time, despite low passenger numbers with 3.99 million reported annually.

Rounding out the top five, Manchester Airport’s 28.08 million passengers per year make it the third-busiest airport in the UK. With a score of 50.5, out of 100 Manchester and Birmingham share a security queue time of 24 minutes.

A spokesperson from claims.co.uk offered the following advice to passengers planning their airport arrival times: “There’s a fine balance between arriving within plenty of time of your flight and wasting hours standing in line.

“Huge queues at Birmingham Airport in the early hours of the morning are a partial consequence of worried passengers arriving deliberately very early for their flights. There’s rarely ever a reason to arrive at 6am if your flight is at 4pm. You should always aim to be at the airport three hours before your flight, particularly if you’re travelling via one of the top airports on this list.

“It is always better to spend a little more time browsing in duty free, or sat in a coffee shop, than to risk missing your holiday, or being stranded. Make sure to check your local news and social media for updates on airport queues on the day of your flight and follow your airline’s advice. Always head to your gate as soon as it opens. Following this advice should guarantee a stress-free start to your summer holiday.”

The full list

The study used data from the Department for Transport’s Road Traffic Statistics Report (2023) to determine the traffic surrounding each airport (vehicles per mile within the local authority checkpoints). It took yearly terminal passenger statistics from the UK Civil Aviation Authority’s Annual Airport Data (2023), and security queue times from the Which? 2022 Security Queue Report.

Each airport was given an index score out of 100, upon which the final ranking is based.