Hundreds slam Edinburgh Airport security shambles

Edinburgh Airport has seen delays. Picture: Scott Taylor

Travellers complained this week of “the worst check-in experience ever” after chaotic scenes during the Monday morning rush, with airport bosses blaming an IT issue.

Several passengers said the hour-long queues to get through security has resulted in them missing their flight, and even the “fast track” lines were reported to be stretching back into the food hall.

Now hundreds of furious residents have contacted the Evening News on social media to share their own tales of travelling woe – and demand airport chiefs sort it out.

Susan Herbert labelled security a “shambles” after she passed through the airport on Saturday morning.

She said: “Not enough check-in desks to cope with numbers and security was a nightmare. Flight to Gatwick delayed and still seven passengers didn’t make it. Captain specifically mentioned security hall as factor for seven passengers missing and flight delay. We checked in two hours before flight.”

Elsewhere, Stefan Erhardt said: “This was not a glitch. It’s a chaotic system and to introduce a boarding pass check queue at the ground flow is simply ridiculous and shows how useless and inefficient the new security area is.

“It certainly is not an improvement over the former area. And passengers have to walk double distance now. Wasted money and wasting every single passenger’s time.

Nic Niven, meanwhile, insisted airport staff should know when their peak times are and how many passengers to expect, and plan accordingly.

She said: “It’s been bad for a number of months. One morning the queue was right down the stairs through the check-in area. Upon getting to the front of the queue they had security lanes closed. Just not good enough.”

John Campbell added: “Totally fed up with it – it’s a shambles and has been for ages. Quite simply the worst airport in the world. It’s embarrassing – time for senior heads to roll.”

One commentator who claimed to be a member of staff said: “I work at the airport and I’ll agree, yes, it’s terrible – we don’t even have a staff lane. They are in the process of reviewing it and they even had the chief executive on security [for] a few days to oversee the operation, which is a shambles.”

An airport spokesman said: “We sincerely apologise for the frustration and inconvenience passengers have experienced this week. We’re working hard to resolve these issues and ensure our passengers are able to get through security as quickly and safely as possible.”

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