Belfast International Airport Apologizes for ‘Unacceptable’ Security Delays

Belfast International Airport has issued an apology after passengers encountered security delays on Saturday morning. In some instances, these delays led to passengers missing their flights. The security issues were attributed to a staff shortage caused by short-term illness. The airport stated its efforts to deploy additional personnel to “understand the issues” and “ensure this does not happen again.” Tom Breen, a passenger at the airport on Saturday morning, reported arriving in “good time” but immediately observed the extensive security queue, estimating “1,000 people maybe more” were waiting. He informed The Nolan Show that only two of the six security lanes were operational, leaving individuals with “seconds to get to the gate.” Consequently, Tom and 25 other passengers on the same flight were unable to board their aircraft and missed its departure due to the delays. Jim, who had been at the international airport for a flight a month prior, recounted experiencing similar problems. He told the Nolan Show, “They’ve spent a fortune putting in six of these new machines, last time I was there only one of them was open.” He described “huge queues” for security screening and noted that individuals, particularly those in business, are “avoiding” the airport due to the severity of the ongoing issues. The airport reiterated that the problems stemmed from “short-term illness” and characterized the passenger delays as “totally unacceptable.” It further stated that additional staff are now in place and that efforts are underway to comprehend the issues and prevent recurrence. An airport spokesperson confirmed that by mid-morning on Saturday, security wait times had normalized. The spokesperson also encouraged any passengers affected by the disruptions to contact the airport. “We trust the measures now in place will ensure this does not happen again. We can only apologise again and thank passengers for their patience and understanding,” the spokesperson concluded. Copyright 2024 BBC. All rights reserved. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read about our approach to external linking.