TRAVELLERS have been told to expect lengthy queues and disruption at Edinburgh Airport this summer.
It comes as the airport prepares for its first full service in over two years, prior to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Holiday makers are set to flock to the capital in numbers unseen in recent years due to the extremely limited travel restrictions now in place.
Predictions say that the number of passengers heading through the airport could treble compared to last year.
The last two years produced dismal flying figures, as the 15 million passengers pre-pandemic descended to just three million.
With the airport at a virtual standstill, over a third of workers were made redundant in a devasting blow for many.
Staff shortages are a key factor behind the airport asking for passenger patience, as Chief Executive Gordon Dewar explained: “During the pandemic, we lost many valued colleagues and our recruitment campaign to employ 1,000 people across the airport has been underway since the end of 2021.
“Not all of those additional people will be in place as quickly as we would like and therefore it is inevitable there will be some queues and disruption as the recovery begins and we take the first steps to normality.”
Senior management told Forth One this morning that they hope passengers will come prepared in order to speed up the process.
This could include having boarding passes and passports ready, as well as ensuring liquids are removed from baggage to prevent security searches.
Dewar continued: “As we do that, we are grateful to passengers for their patience and understanding and ask that they allow themselves to carefully plan and understand what they need to do before they get here.
“We all want to put on as good a service as we can and will be working hard to do that, drafting in people from across the airport to support passengers and ensuring people have everything they need to get through the airport quickly and comfortably.”
Additional factors that the airport feel could affect waiting times include security preparations and differing Covid-19 entry requirements between countries.
Some travellers jetting off for the first time in nearly three years is also expected to add to the disruption, as they get back up to speed with the airport’s processes.
Adam Wilson, Operations Director at Edinburgh Airport, said: “We’ve drawn up a range of plans to deal with potential scenarios but unfortunately this may not avoid queuing at peak times.
“We clearly hope this won’t be the case, but we think it’s better to be honest and ask passengers to work with us to make the process as smooth as possible.
“We’ll be using our social media channels, our website, our emails to inform and best prepare people for their return to travel. We hope people understand the challenges we are likely to face, and we are thankful for their patience.”
