Airport explains cause of 'colossal queues'
Manchester Airport has responded to a video posted on social media by Bank of Dave star Dave Fishwick showing 'colossal queues' and 'absolute carnage' at passport control over the weekend. The airport explained that the queues were caused by several delayed arrivals coming into the airport in a short period of time.
Dave Fishwick, who inspired Netflix's Bank of Dave film, posted a video to his X account on July 12, warning travellers of the longest queues he has 'ever, ever seen.' The Lancashire businessman, who was awarded an OBE this year in the King's Honours List after being nominated by Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, ran into the 'unbelievable' queues after returning from Mallorca over the weekend.
Passenger numbers and wait times
Around 1,500 passengers arrived into immigration at a similar time due to the delays, causing peak wait times of around 25 minutes, according to the airport. A Manchester Airport spokesperson said: 'On rare occasions disruption to inbound flight schedules can cause immigration to become busier than usual. In these circumstances we deploy systems to help keep the flow of passengers moving, including implementing zig-zag style queues - which is what this video shows.'
'At the time in question, several out-of-schedule arrivals in a short period of time resulted in around 1,500 passengers arriving into immigration at a similar time. Our teams were deployed to manage queues with the result that wait times peaked at around 25 minutes.'
Fishwick's warning to travellers
In the video, Fishwick said: 'Absolute carnage at Manchester Airport today. Just arrived back from Mallorca and the queues are colossal. It's more than I've ever, ever seen before. I've been flying for decades, I fly all over the world for lots of different reasons, and it's definitely the longest queues I've ever, ever seen.'
'So if you are going to land at Manchester from anywhere you're going in the world then please, please, please have a think about giving yourself plenty of time if someone's coming to pick you up or taxis are booked, because this is just unbelievable.'
Fishwick's OBE and career
It comes after the Bank of Dave star was awarded an OBE in the King's Honours List - after being nominated by Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer. Dave, from Burnley, has been honoured the OBE for services to finance, business and charity. His own rags to riches story, and subsequent David and Goliath battle against the banking industry to set up his own bank, has inspired two global Netflix films as well as spin-off books and even a musical that premiered in Salford in May.
