The UK’s second May bank holiday on May 25, contributed to an increase in passenger numbers and some reported airport queues in both the UK and Europe. Travellers were likely to be making the most of the long weekend, which also coincided with the start of half-term week for UK schools.
Bank holiday travel numbers down
However, aviation analytics company Cirium’s figures of 12,366 flights being scheduled to depart UK airports over the bank holiday weekend, show a 4.5% decrease on pre-pandemic numbers (for the same weekend in 2019).
Cirium reported a peak of 296 flights from UK airports were cancelled in May, but the outlook appears to be stabilising. EasyJet and Jet2 recently reassured passengers that their summer flights should go ahead as planned, despite rising jet fuel costs due to the Middle East conflict.
Queues at home and abroad
Passengers departing from Birmingham Airport (BHX) on May 22 and others arriving at Portugal’s Faro Airport (FAO) on May 25 reported on social media that security queues were “total chaos” and lengthy.
A Birmingham Airport spokesperson apologised for any inconvenience caused by fewer screening lanes being open on Friday, due to:
“an unexpectedly high level of staff absence.”
A passenger’s video posted on The Portugal News shows a congested arrivals area with the caption:
“Arriving passport queue 50 mins minimum today.”
However, previous issues with delays for UK passengers due to the rollout of the Europe-wide EU Entry-Exit System (EES), with the use of biometric data such as fingerprints and photographs instead of passport stamps, do not seem to have caused excessive issues over the bank holiday weekend.
Have you experienced any airport security delays over the bank holiday weekend? Let us know in the comments…
