Holidaymakers 'told to check baggage in day before flying' as airport queues continue

Holidaymakers flying with Jet2 arriving at Birmingham Airport in the early hours of the morning, were faced with having to queue outside before making it to check-in.

One frustrated traveller was Roy Phillips, who runs Central Paving in Telford. He was queuing outside the airport with his family at 3.30am on Thursday.

He said: "We really needed a holiday. After the stress of work and not going abroad for two years because of Covid, it couldn't come quick enough. This experience isn't starting the holiday off in a relaxing way.

"We decided to avoid booking with TUI because of the problems people were having with them, but this morning the only problems were with Jet2."

Mr Phillips and his family were dropped off at the airport by an All Aboard Shropshire driver, who said he has "never experienced anything like it".

The driver, 48, said: "Customers who have booked our service will tell us their arrival time, but then it takes them about 3.5 hours to get through baggage claim, it's been that busy. That's happened to us three times in the last two weeks.

"I just dropped off regular holidaymakers who have had to join the queue, which stretched outside towards the arrivals door.

"Yesterday at Birmingham airport I was waiting for a flight to come in from Spain at 12.15pm, but it was late taking off and the customers were told it would be another hour and a half before they take off."

All Aboard Shropshire Airport Transfers have said this is the second day of misery their customers have faced, with some saying they have been advised to check their baggage in the day before the flight. Jet2 offers a service called Twilight Check-in which gives customers the option to check their bags in between 3pm and 8pm the evening before their morning flight.

Some Facebook users have shared views and experiences at BHX.

Jayne Summers said: "Ooo heck, hope Birmingham Airport sort it with more ground crew and Jet2 sort their staffing issues out, then and only then will people stop panicking and arriving way too early causing the perfect storm."

Jan Maddocks shared her own experience with Jet2, saying the problems start after going through check-in: "We were here a few weeks ago with Jet2.... this que moves very quick once your check in time arrives.... the problem is people are getting there very early which is understandable but Jet2 will not let you check in until three hours before flights. Jet2 are very organised and lots of staff on the ground... its once you've checked in you should worry..."

Jenny Arklie commented: "Hopefully once the kids go back to school next week it will ease a bit."

A Jet2 spokesperson said: "Firstly, Jet2.com has not cancelled flights. The half-term period is a very popular time for holidaymakers and we are operating a huge programme of flights, taking many thousands of customers away on their well-deserved holidays. We are receiving positive feedback from many happy customers, thanks to our dedicated teams who are continuing to work tirelessly to provide the best customer service in the industry.

"You only have to look at our fully staffed check-in desks to see the difference between ourselves and other airlines. We took action to recruit well ahead of the bounce back and as such we have a very visible uniformed presence (referred to as the Red Team) in our UK airports as well as in our main overseas airports and in resorts.

"This team are on hand, making an enormous difference in terms of assisting and guiding our customers through their journey with us. Of course, we are aware that some customers may have experienced delays at other points in the airport, for instance going through security, however this is completely outside of our control.”