- ‘It is great travel restrictions have been lifted and the speed of recovery is encouraging. It also presents big challenges and how we run the airport’
Manchester Airport Managing Director Karen Smart has apologised to passengers caught up in delays after having to wait in long queues, due to staff shortages.
“We want to apologise to all our customers who have experienced disruption over the last couple of weeks,” said Smart.
Alicante-Elche airport
With flights in and out of Alicante-Elche airport from Manchester Airport, MD Smart said: “We want to be clear with our customers that getting back to full strength is going to take time.
“There will unfortunately be periods over the next few weeks – when it will take longer to get through the airport than it should.”
Manchester Airport has faced huge queues for Check-in, Security and Passport Control, along with issues in other departments including baggage reclaim.
One employee put staff shortages down to being made redundant after being under the umbrella of the government furlough scheme during Covid-19.
Staff are threatening to leave after many already having left with notices handed in.
In the staff shortages turmoil firefighters had been asked to help on the baggage conveyors, with a letter sent to employees asking if they would volunteer to manage queues.
In a statement Manchester Airports Group (MAG) said: “The airport is experiencing staff shortages, as it seeks to meet rapidly increasing demand for international travel following the lifting of testing and quarantine requirements in mid-February.”
During the coronovirus pandemic more than 2,000 redundancies were reportedly made at Manchester Airport.
Following the easing of Covid-19 restrictions passenger numbers have doubled over the last two months, with 60,000 passengers travelling through the terminals every day.
Manchester Airport are currently looking to hire 400 new recruits, who will undergo training and security clearance process.
The situation is expected to improve through April following a jobs fair in Wythenshawe on March 24, to recruit temporary staff from University student bodies, and developing ways for existing workforce to support operations.
Managing director of Manchester Airport, Karen Smart said: “We recognise passengers are really looking forward to getting away, and long queues are clearly not what they want to see when travelling through our airport.
“We had to dramatically scale back our operations, with no certainty for a long time about when things would start to get back to normal.
“We want to be clear with our customers that getting back to full strength is going to take time and there will unfortunately be periods over the next few weeks when it will take longer to get through the airport than it should.”
The Government’s decision on January 5 to scrap the requirement for pre-departure tests has created a surge in bookings.
On February 11, the requirement for in-bound full-vaccinated passengers to take a test on arrival was also removed.
By March 18, all remaining restrictions were lifted, regardless of vaccination status.
“It is great that travel restrictions have now been lifted and the speed of the recovery we are seeing is encouraging. But it also presents big challenges for us and how we run the airport.
“When travel was heavily restricted during the pandemic, we were forced to reduce our staff numbers, because passenger volumes were so low.
“Many colleagues also chose to take up other roles elsewhere, given the situation we were faced with at the time.
“With so much uncertainty surrounding how long travel restrictions would remain in place, it has been difficult to plan ahead and know not just when the recovery would start, but also how quickly demand would return,” said MD Smart.
In the run-up to summer, she said: “The extensive security checks and training for new security officers mean we’ve not been able to keep pace with the rapid growth in demand.
“But we are interviewing hundreds of candidates every week and new colleagues are coming into the operation every day.
“Unfortunately, that means that over the next few weeks there will be times when we will not be able to deliver the standard of service that we always aim to provide for our customers.
“We know our partners are facing similar challenges, which means there may also be disruption to services they provide, such as check-in, baggage handling, and immigration checks at the Border.
“But we are committed to working as one team to keep the operation going.
“We want to give customers the best possible experience when they travel through Manchester, and know people are excited to be flying again after such a long time.
“I want to reassure people that we are working hard to get back to where we need to be, and while queues may be longer than people are used to at times, customers can definitely help us by arriving in good time and ensuring they know exactly what they can and can’t take through security. “I would like to thank all our colleagues for their dedication during this period of recovery.”
