News: Work starts on queue busting project at Stansted
Flights > News > # 1159 (22/01/2007)
Stansted airport has bowed to pressure from no-frills airlines and started work on increasing the size of its security area in a bid to reduce passenger queues during peak times. The £2 million project is set to be ready for the Easter rush.
The speed of Stansted’s growth over the last few years, combined with the tightening of security restrictions since last summer’s failed terror plot, has caught the airport on the hop, leading to the BAA-run facility gaining a reputation for lengthy queues for both departing and arriving passengers.
Stansted’s customer services director, Mark Murphy, said the investment demonstrates the airport’s commitment to reducing queuing times at security, while maintaining the highest security standards. He added that over the previous year an additional 300 security officers had been recruited to work at the airport.
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Flightmapping.com editor, Mark Avery, last flew from Stansted in July, and vowed not to return until the situation at the departure gate improved.
He arrived at 5am, and said the terminal was totally chaotic. He added: “There were clearly not enough security staff on duty, and queue jumping was rife because of the lack of organised lines.”
Bear in mind that this was before all the extra restrictions were imposed on passengers, it is easy to understand why Ryanair et al have put so much pressure on the airport authority to sort the mess out. Lets hope the enlarged security area helps cut down the dreaded queues, otherwise more and more people will vote with their feet and go elsewhere for flights.
