Chaos at London Stansted: passengers stranded after two-hour security queues

Passengers at London Stansted faced a night of chaos after queues of more than two hours at security, Metro can reveal.

Hundreds of travellers looked set to miss flights on Thursday night after arriving at the Essex Airport queues of more than an hour backed up to the entrance of the security area.

No announcements were made by the airport and as of 10.15pm, just two of the 11 security scanners were open while furious passengers watched on.

People on the scene were told there wasn’t enough staff.

A passenger who was due to travel on the 10pm flight to Dublin told Metro: ‘There’s a total lack of staff. There are women with babies in buggies and prams who don’t know if they’re going to have to sleep in the airport tonight.’

‘People are here in the queue having to watch FlightRadar to see if their flight has taken off, it’s just a total lack of communication.’

Passengers on the 9.55pm flight to Frankfurt Hahn, the 10pm to Dublin and the 10.05pm to Copenhagen were all affected.

One man was in tears and said he was going to miss a wedding in Denmark tomorrow.

One passenger paid for fast track and went to that section, only to find the queue had been closed.

Tourists are now stranded in London and have been left with no choice but to book last-minute accommodation.

A ground worker was heard telling passengers: ‘We are just as furious as you are.’

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The last flight from Stansted was due to depart for Izmir, in Turkey at 10.30pm. It is unclear how many passengers were able to board.

A spokesperson for Stansted Airport told Metro: ‘Security queue times were longer than would normally be expected for a period this evening due to high passenger numbers.

‘Our teams worked hard to support passengers and get them safely through security as soon as possible. We thank passengers for their patience and apologise for any inconvenience.’

Earlier on Thursday, strikes by ABM workers at Stansted were called off to allow workers to vote on an improved pay offer.

Over 100 Unite members who look after passengers with disabilities at the airport were due to walk out from tomorrow until Monday 20 April in a dispute over pay.

However, following negotiations between Unite, the employer and conciliatory service Acas this has now been postponed after a new offer was put forward.

Unite regional officer Steve Edwards said: ‘After a new offer has been put forward to members, we have decided to stop strike action to allow them to have their say.’

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