Leeds Bradford Airport queue chaos leaves passengers in tears

Passengers have reported wait times at security of over three hours

Passengers have described "total chaos", hours-long queues and missed flights at a short-staffed airport.

Lines of travellers have snaked out of Leeds Bradford Airport's terminal building as security personnel have worked to get people through.

Some holidaymakers said they were standing for more than three hours, with people feeling faint or reduced to tears as their flight times approached.

An airport spokesperson apologised for the disruption.

Bosses have blamed an industry-wide problem with staffing levels, which has resulted in long queues at London, Manchester and Birmingham airports.

Leeds Bradford has advised all passengers to arrive at least three hours before their flight.

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Dennis Hall, from Yarm, described his check-in experience at Leeds last Friday as "a disaster" and said he waited more than three hours to board his flight to Greece.

He said there was just one staff member checking the passports of an estimated 3,000 queueing passengers, with some waiting outside the terminal.

When he reached the security gate, he said, a single officer was operating the scanning machine.

"The airport aren't interested," he said. "Get there early they say, but you're still going to queue for three hours."

Staff from airline Jet2 were calling people forward as departure times neared, with the captain of Mr Hall's flight waiting an extra 30 minutes to allow some passengers to get through.

People waiting to get into the terminal building were having to wait outside, traveller Dennis Hall said

Sarah Dreier, from Castleford, said she missed her flight to Fuerteventura despite arriving at the airport three hours before take-off.

She said a phone app had alerted her to the departure of her plane, which left on time, despite a dozen passengers still in the security queue.

"There was total chaos," she said. "After having no customer services available it was clear the whole of the airport was a queue," she said.

Despite being allowed to use the fast track security line, Ms Dreier said she thought she would have faced a further hour's wait before getting airside.

"There were families crying, there were people feeling faint. I was in disbelief," she said.

Sarah Dreier said she saw families in tears as queues were in "total chaos"

A spokesperson for the airport said longer queuing times were possible during peak times and passengers should arrive three hours before their flight.

It apologised and said it was "working hard" to overcome recruitment and training challenges affecting airports across the country while managing queue safety.