Friday 13 May 2022 07:59 AM Passengers are forced to queue on the TRAVELATOR at Manchester trends now

Hundreds of annoyed travellers at Manchester airport were forced to queue on the travelator to get through security as early as 4am today.

Britain's airport nightmare rages on, with photos and videos posted to Twitter this morning showing holidaymakers snaking through the terminal building - and one flyer warning he could miss his flight to Corfu after queueing for a 'quarter mile'.

Other travellers shared images of packed queues at Birmingham and Leeds Bradford, the latter the latest airport to be engulfed in chaos.

Airport bosses are blaming an industry-wide problem with staffing shortages caused by Covid self-isolation and mass layoffs during the pandemic.

Tweeting from Manchester, one person raged: 'Manchester airport is an absolute shambles! 3 and a half hours early for a flight and we just about make it #disgrace #manchesterairport'.

Another said: 'Oh dear, flying to Corfu at 06:10, it's 04:25 and we are, literally, 1/4 of a mile away in a queue for the check-in desk…. I'll let you know.'

A third posted on Twitter: '#manchesterairport #easyJet the queue at 3.00am this morning! What is the point in telling people to turn up 3 hours before their flight and then have no one on Check-In?? People already queuing out of the door - madness!!'

MailOnline has contacted Manchester, Birmingham and Leeds Bradford airports for comment. 

Yesterday holidaymakers at Leeds Bradford said they stood for more than three hours to get through security, with some feeling faint or bursting into tears as their flight times neared.

One traveller claimed there was just one staff member checking the passports of around 3,000 people - with some waiting outside the terminal. He raged: 'The airport aren't interested. Get there early they say, but you're still going to queue for three hours.' 

Two police officers were seen monitoring the 'standstill' queues during yesterday's chaos, Leeds Live reported.

Another holidaymaker said she missed her flight to Fuerteventura despite arriving at Leeds Bradford three hours before take-off, adding: 'There was total chaos. After having no customer services available it was clear the whole of the airport was a queue'.

She told the BBC: 'There were families crying, there were people feeling faint. I was in disbelief.'

On Twitter, one person warned: 'For anyone coming to #leedsbradfordairport it really is as bad as people are saying. 3 hours at least this morning for security'.

Another said: 'Huge queues at #leedsbradfordairport for security, Get there early even for fast track.' 

One passenger told Leeds Live: 'I've been to this airport many times before and never seen queues quite like it - it really is as busy as everyone has been saying. Not the most thrilling thing to have to do on the way to a much-anticipated holiday.' 

A spokesperson for Leeds Bradford Airport told MailOnline yesterday: 'We would like to apologise to passengers impacted by queues at LBA. 

'We're working hard to overcome these challenges, that are impacting airports across the country, through recruitment and training initiatives, while managing queues safely.'

Tweeting from Birmingham yesterday, one person claimed: 'Unbelievable. We followed your advice and got here just 2 hours before and were now queueing with hundreds of others in a security line which is taking forever - not impressed at all #whatawaytostartaholiday'.

Another said: 'This is the worst I've ever seen at an airport. Unbelievable queues today. 400m long'. Later, he added: 'Scrap that. Queue is about 1 mile long - literally'. 

One Twitter user posted: '@bhx_official the queue this morning is a disgrace. Why after days of this have you not sorted it!!!??? #birminghamairport'.