Travel chaos at Manchester, Birmingham and Dublin airports continued on Friday, with frustrated passengers hitting out at the “horrendous” queues.
Birmingham Airport was “absolutely rammed” with people heading overseas on the second day of the long bank holiday in the UK.
There were similar scenes at Manchester Airport where weary travellers were forced to wait around for up to three hours after landing to retrieve their baggage.
The four-day weekend to celebrate Queen Elizabeth II’s platinum jubilee coincides with a half-term school holiday and has sparked a surge in travel from UK airports.
The chaotic scenes at Ireland’s main airport in Dublin continued on Friday. About 200,000 people are expected to pass through its doors between Friday and Monday, a bank holiday in the republic.
Passenger Liam Casey tweeted a photo showing crowds of people waiting to drop off their luggage, and described the situation as “bedlam”.
“Do not bring luggage to check-in to @flysas at Dublin Airport today,” he warned. “Estimate 90 mins for bag drop. This is not a security problem, it’s a desk staffing problem.
“Bedlam, and nowhere near security yet.”
One woman named Amber, who was flying from Dublin to the US with her husband and toddler, tweeted that their plane was delayed by about two hours “due to passengers stuck in security”.
“Staff were run off their feet,” she said. “They must end each day exhausted, yet great attitudes all around.”
In the UK, furious passengers lambasted airports and demanded urgent action to address the extended queuing times.
The issues are caused by a sudden increase in demand for travel while airports and airlines remain in the process of recruiting enough staff before a summer surge. Thousands of personnel were laid off during the pandemic and the industry is now ill-prepared to cope with the huge numbers.
One passenger named Andrew Morton posted a photo showing a long line of people queuing in Manchester Airport’s Terminal 2 at 3.45am on Friday.
Another man, Sabir Ahmed, said he had to queue for an hour to drop his bag off and a further 40 minutes to pass through security.
“Flying with easyJet. At Manchester airport T1 waiting for bag drop off,” he said. “Extremely long queue. Joined around 2.50am and it has not moved at all.”
Another man named Peter took to Twitter at around 3.30am to vent his fury.
“Absolute scenes at Manchester Airport this morning,” he wrote. “Tui staff saying the queue that goes through the terminal and along most of the skywalk will only take 35 mins. We will see when we are allowed to re-join at 4am.”
Tui has slashed its services to and from Manchester by six flights a day until the end of the month. The travel company has in recent days been hit by a backlash from customers over delays and cancelled flights.
Suzanna Colley tweeted about an hour after landing at Birmingham Airport on a flight from Stockholm to say there was “no sign of baggage”. “What’s going on?” she questioned.
A fellow passenger named Jason branded the debacle a “complete joke”, saying he had been stranded on a plane for an hour after landing while staff waited for steps to arrive. “Over an hour wait for luggage,” he said.
A woman named Grace reported a similar experience on Twitter.
“Landed in Birmingham Airport and within about two minutes they told us they don’t have enough staff to bring the stairs to us and let us off,” she wrote.
How to apply for a drone permit
- Individuals must register on UAE Drone app or website using their UAE Pass
- Add all their personal details, including name, nationality, passport number, Emiratis ID, email and phone number
- Upload the training certificate from a centre accredited by the GCAA
- Submit their request
What are the regulations?
- Fly it within visual line of sight
- Never over populated areas
- Ensure maximum flying height of 400 feet (122 metres) above ground level is not crossed
- Users must avoid flying over restricted areas listed on the UAE Drone app
- Only fly the drone during the day, and never at night
- Should have a live feed of the drone flight
- Drones must weigh 5 kg or less
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Water waste
In the UAE’s arid climate, small shrubs, bushes and flower beds usually require about six litres of water per square metre, daily. That increases to 12 litres per square metre a day for small trees, and 300 litres for palm trees.
Horticulturists suggest the best time for watering is before 8am or after 6pm, when water won't be dried up by the sun.
A global report published by the Water Resources Institute in August, ranked the UAE 10th out of 164 nations where water supplies are most stretched.
The Emirates is the world’s third largest per capita water consumer after the US and Canada.
Tewellah by Nawal Zoghbi is out now.
If you go...
Fly from Dubai or Abu Dhabi to Chiang Mai in Thailand, via Bangkok, before taking a five-hour bus ride across the Laos border to Huay Xai. The land border crossing at Huay Xai is a well-trodden route, meaning entry is swift, though travellers should be aware of visa requirements for both countries.
Flights from Dubai start at Dh4,000 return with Emirates, while Etihad flights from Abu Dhabi start at Dh2,000. Local buses can be booked in Chiang Mai from around Dh50
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Dr Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
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'Dark Waters'
Directed by: Todd Haynes
Starring: Mark Ruffalo, Anne Hathaway, William Jackson Harper
Rating: ****
PROFILE OF HALAN
Started: November 2017
Founders: Mounir Nakhla, Ahmed Mohsen and Mohamed Aboulnaga
Based: Cairo, Egypt
Sector: transport and logistics
Size: 150 employees
Investment: approximately $8 million
Investors include: Singapore’s Battery Road Digital Holdings, Egypt’s Algebra Ventures, Uber co-founder and former CTO Oscar Salazar
How to help
Send “thenational” to the following numbers or call the hotline on: 0502955999
2289 – Dh10
2252 – Dh 50
6025 – Dh20
6027 – Dh 100
6026 – Dh 200
The Outsider
Stephen King, Penguin
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KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
