Published April 17, 2026 5:27pm
Updated April 17, 2026 5:51pm
A man has been left hundreds of pounds out of pocket after queues at Stansted Airport led hundreds to miss flights.
Barry Young said he had no choice but to pay £389 for accommodation, transfers and a new flight after he missed the easyJet flight that was due to take him from London to Edinburgh — because he was stuck in the queue for security.
The 45-year-old from Edinburgh told Metro: ‘Something seriously needs to be done to hold airports accountable for what is, frankly, a disgraceful level of service.
‘Airports know well in advance how many passengers are expected, so there’s no excuse for not staffing appropriately.’
Mr Young, who asked not to be pictured, was booked to fly on the 9.35pm flight from Stansted to Edinburgh.
He said he arrived at the airport at 7.30pm, from London Liverpool Street, allowing more than the recommended two hours of time before his flight.
Seeing that security was already ‘heavily backed up’, he tried to pay for fast track on his phone but found it was unavailable. Staff confirmed it had been closed for the day.
After waiting another 45 minutes, Mr Young said it became clear there was no chance that he would make his flight ‘with hundreds still ahead’.
While he understands that easyJet has no liability in this situation, he said Stansted must do more for passengers.
‘What’s especially frustrating is the lack of accountability. Due to airport inadequacy, it’s leaving passengers to deal with the consequences alone.
‘I’m currently on the bus to Edinburgh as I write this, completely fed up. At a minimum, core infrastructure like airport security should function properly for the public.
‘Stansted clearly isn’t meeting that standard.’
Full breakdown of Barry’s expenses
– Hotel near King’s Cross: £90
– Stansted Express back to London: £21
– Next day Train from King’s Cross to Edinburgh: £89 (cancelled and refunded due to a trespasser)
– New British Airways flight from Gatwick to Glasgow: £200
– Train from King’s Cross to Gatwick: £18
– Bus from Glasgow Airport to Glasgow city centre: £11
– Bus from Glasgow to Edinburgh: £17
Total: £357
Mr Young is sure that lots of people were left in a ‘very difficult financial situation’ by the situation.
A spokesperson for Stansted Airport told Metro: ‘Any passenger who feels that didn’t receive the appropriate level of service when using the airport should contact us via the usual feedback channels so we can look into their airport journey and experience.
‘Once again, we apologise to passengers for any inconvenient and delays they may have experienced at security on Thursday evening.’
Airports are responsible for ensuring safety, security, and infrastructure functionality, rather than guaranteed flight times, which are generally the responsibility of airlines.
However, other passengers affected by the queues on Thursday told Metro that just two of the 11 security scanners were open while the crowd watched on.
No announcements were made by the airport to explain what was causing the delay, according to passengers.
A man 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.’
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