Passengers at Birmingham have, at times, found themselves queuing for several hours at peak times following confusion about the 100ml liquids rule after a government edict last weekend.

Nick Barton, the airport’s chief executive, told TTG local agents could nevertheless be confident about the summer peak with the addition of 30 temporary inspection desks where bags would be checked before the security scanners are reached.

The airport has recruited more than 100 temporary staff to conduct searches and is constructing a larger temporary search area outside the terminal that will “snake” passengers into the building.

Barton said security teams were seizing 1.5 tonnes of liquids from passengers each day and urged agents to advise clients to keep to the 100ml rule and remove bottles from bags for scanning, while stressing electronic devices need not be removed.

“We have a challenge in peak periods when there’s significant queuing we must mitigate. Most people have got their flights, but we are facing longer queues in peak periods, especially early morning,” he said.

Barton insisted wait times had fallen drastically, but admitted: “In the peak of the peak this morning, it was 30-50 minutes,” adding: “The core message is turn up on time – typically three hours before departures – and, if you can, put any liquids in hold luggage.”

Confusion reigned following the installation of new scanners designed to do away with the 100ml liquids rule.

Last year, the government gave airports with more than one million annual passengers a 1 June deadline to install the new security machines. These permit passengers to leave devices like laptops and tablets in their bags and to carry up to two litres of liquid in their hand luggage.

“All these machines have been restricted since last Saturday night [8 June].” Barton said, adding he had “no idea” when the situation would change. “Guidance from the government is this is a temporary measure, that’s all we’ve got.

“The underlying issue is the impact of the temporary restrictions imposed by government. The software needed to be upgraded for reasons I can’t go into – it’s not in response to a new security threat. While I really don’t like the consequences, I fully support the government in what they’ve done.”

Costs ’considerable’

Last week, the government told Aberdeen, Leeds-Bradford, London City, Newcastle, Southend and Teesside airports, which were already operating the new scanners, to reintroduce the 100ml rule.

It did not include Birmingham, which was yet to use its machines in the full two-litre detection mode. And although the airport’s new security area was designed to accommodate the increase to two litres, the restriction means it is running at a lower throughput rate than originally planned, resulting in queuing at peak times.

Barton explained: “We had ours [scanners] on site in January. At the same time, we were told by government there was a software issue.” The issue affected only some manufacturers of the machines approved by the government, including those at Birmingham.

“As a result, we were told we had to limit the functionality. The manufacturers and the government said they would work it through by 1 June and we would get a software upgrade.

“The manufacturers delivered this at the end of March, that gave us two months. While the upgrade was going on, we retained the 100ml rule.”

However, Barton said the machines were still able to screen several 100ml bottles in passengers’ bags, allowing them to take more than one bottle or tube, but he stressed: “We are nowhere near the two litre mark yet.”

He added: “The machinery is fantastic; unfortunately it’s like building a new motorway and putting out traffic cones in two lanes.”

Barton said there had “maybe” been a communication issue over the 100ml rule, with consumers believing they could take more, but added: “Passengers have real difficulty with this regulation and we never put out the two litre message to start with – we were hamstrung from January.”

He made no estimate of the cost to the airport, but said it was “considerable”. Asked if he would seek damages, he replied: “It’s something we will look at another day.”

Barton also denied claims of a bottleneck at the airport caused by the replacement of four escalators with lifts in the North Terminal. These were removed to avert accidents involving luggage, he stressed.

“Some say lifts are the problem – they are not,” he said. “Even with only three operating, the lifts are 50% bigger than they need to be.”