Passengers queue at Brussels Airport on Monday. Frustrated travellers said people were “skipping queues like crazy” as crowds waited in corridors after touching down. Photo: Twitter / @reveriesheeran
Passengers queue at Brussels Airport on Monday. Frustrated travellers said people were “skipping queues like crazy” as crowds waited in corridors after touching down. Photo: Twitter / @reveriesheeran
Passengers queue at Brussels Airport on Monday. Frustrated travellers said people were “skipping queues like crazy” as crowds waited in corridors after touching down. Photo: Twitter / @reveriesheeran
Passengers queue at Brussels Airport on Monday. Frustrated travellers said people were “skipping queues like crazy” as crowds waited in corridors after touching down. Photo: Twitter / @reveriesheeran

Europe’s airport chaos extends to Brussels, Amsterdam, Bristol and Dublin


Laura O'Callaghan
  • English
  • Arabic

Hundreds of passengers arriving at Brussels Airport were forced to join lengthy queues for border control in scenes of chaos on Monday.

Frustrated travellers said people were “skipping queues like crazy” as crowds waited in corridors after touching down.

There were similar scenes at Dublin Airport in Ireland, Bristol Airport in south-west England and Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam amid a spike in travel across Europe.

A spokeswoman for Brussels Airport told The National that the extended waiting times were caused by multiple flights from non-Schengen Area countries arriving at the same time. EU nationals do not need to show a national ID card or passport when travelling from one border-free Schengen country to another.

“We saw a peak moment because several flights arrived at the same time from non-Schengen countries," the spokeswoman said. "Passengers queued for up to one hour.

“We saw this queue start at 10am and there was a peak at noon when a few hundred passengers had to go through border control at the same time.

“Of course it’s an inconvenience for passengers. We have handed out bottles of water to make it a bit more comfortable.”

Alison Comyn, who travelled to Brussels from Ireland, said she witnessed manic scenes upon arrival.

“Brussels Airport why the crazy queues at passport control? It’s chaos here,” she tweeted. “No information and people skipping queues like crazy. And just as I managed to escape Dublin Airport with very little hassle.”

Long queues at Dublin Airport caused “more than 1,000 passengers” to miss their flights on Sunday and set off a wave of criticism from disgruntled travellers.

Gardai (Irish police) were drafted in to man doorways and calm the chaos at Ireland’s main airport. The setbacks also prompted travellers to arrive up to 12 hours before their scheduled departure time on Monday, in anticipation of further queues.

An urgent meeting to discuss the issue will take place on Monday between airport officials and Junior Minister for Transport Hildegarde Naughton.

Kevin Cullinane, interim group head of communications at Dublin Airport, told The National that the lengthy queues on Sunday caused major disruption for passengers.

“At the moment, we are aware of just over 1,000 passengers who missed their flights yesterday from those airlines that have informed us at this stage," he said. "Those airlines account for more than 80 per cent of passengers at Dublin Airport, [so] it’s unlikely to be much higher than that."

Some 45,000 passengers were scheduled to travel through the airport on Monday, Mr Cullinane said.

Despite the queuing times for check-in and security returning to normal on Monday, many people arrived at the airport half a day in advance for fear they would miss their flights.

“Most passengers were through [security] in under an hour this morning,” Mr Cullinane added. “We advise passengers on short-haul flights to arrive two and a half hours before and those on long-haul flights to arrive three and a half hours before. If you have a car to park at Dublin Airport, arrive 30 minutes before that.

“There’s no need to be arriving 10-12 hours in advance. Some passengers this morning were over-compensating for what they read and heard about yesterday.”

Passengers at Dublin Airport on Sunday vented their anger and disgust on social media and demanded action.

One man posted a photo of crowds waiting outside an airport entrance and said he had been standing in line for hours.

“Three hours of queuing to this point,” the man named Ralph McCurry wrote.

“Just witnessed a stampede. I saw more order during the evacuation of Kabul last August. Get a grip down here please. Is anyone in charge??!...anyone?!”

Another man branded the scenes “insane” and “shameful”.

Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport was also hit by problems as passengers reported four-hour waiting times on Monday morning.

Exasperated travellers tweeted pictures of long queues in and outside the airport — and lambasted the “embarrassing and unacceptable” waiting times.

“Absolute chaos at Schiphol this morning,” one man wrote. “Been queuing 2.5 hours to get through security — and still waiting.”

The airport apologised for the “discomfort of the queues”.

Passengers due to fly from Bristol Airport in south-west England on Monday also reported lengthy queues.

A spokesperson for the airport apologised for the upheaval.

“We appreciate the frustration experienced by customers early this morning and are sorry for the queues at security which exceeded 90 minutes for a short period of time," they said in a statement.

“We’ve fallen short this morning but the Bristol Airport team and our business partners are working hard to ensure all customers have a smooth and easy journey through the terminal."

Queues at Bristol Airport on Monday. Photo: Paul Trueman/Twitter
Queues at Bristol Airport on Monday. Photo: Paul Trueman/Twitter
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  • NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
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  • Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Tips to stay safe during hot weather
  • Stay hydrated: Drink plenty of fluids, especially water. Avoid alcohol and caffeine, which can increase dehydration.
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PROFILE

Name: Enhance Fitness 

Year started: 2018 

Based: UAE 

Employees: 200 

Amount raised: $3m 

Investors: Global Ventures and angel investors 

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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Director: Daniel Espinosa 

Stars: Jared Leto, Matt Smith, Adria Arjona

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Conflict, drought, famine

Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
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Band Aid

Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
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The lowdown

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Produced by: Red Chillies, Azure Entertainment 

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Cast: Amitabh Bachchan, Taapsee Pannu, Amrita Singh, Tony Luke

PSA DUBAI WORLD SERIES FINALS LINE-UP

Men’s:
Mohamed El Shorbagy (EGY)
Ali Farag (EGY)
Simon Rosner (GER)
Tarek Momen (EGY)
Miguel Angel Rodriguez (COL)
Gregory Gaultier (FRA)
Karim Abdel Gawad (EGY)
Nick Matthew (ENG)

Women's:
Nour El Sherbini (EGY)
Raneem El Welily (EGY)
Nour El Tayeb (EGY)
Laura Massaro (ENG)
Joelle King (NZE)
Camille Serme (FRA)
Nouran Gohar (EGY)
Sarah-Jane Perry (ENG)

Company profile

Name: Thndr

Started: October 2020

Founders: Ahmad Hammouda and Seif Amr

Based: Cairo, Egypt

Sector: FinTech

Initial investment: pre-seed of $800,000

Funding stage: series A; $20 million

Investors: Tiger Global, Beco Capital, Prosus Ventures, Y Combinator, Global Ventures, Abdul Latif Jameel, Endure Capital, 4DX Ventures, Plus VC,  Rabacap and MSA Capital

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Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence

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The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
Power: 510hp at 9,000rpm
Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
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Price: From Dh801,800
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Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo

Power: 248hp at 5,200rpm

Torque: 400Nm at 1,750-4,000rpm

Transmission: 8-speed auto

Fuel consumption: 9.1L/100km

On sale: Now

Price: From Dh149,900

SNAPSHOT

While Huawei did launch the first smartphone with a 50MP image sensor in its P40 series in 2020, Oppo in 2014 introduced the Find 7, which was capable of taking 50MP images: this was done using a combination of a 13MP sensor and software that resulted in shots seemingly taken from a 50MP camera.

SPECS

Engine: 4-litre V8 twin-turbo
Power: 630hp
Torque: 850Nm
Transmission: 8-speed Tiptronic automatic
Price: From Dh599,000
On sale: Now

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Ruwais timeline

1971 Abu Dhabi National Oil Company established

1980 Ruwais Housing Complex built, located 10 kilometres away from industrial plants

1982 120,000 bpd capacity Ruwais refinery complex officially inaugurated by the founder of the UAE Sheikh Zayed

1984 Second phase of Ruwais Housing Complex built. Today the 7,000-unit complex houses some 24,000 people.  

1985 The refinery is expanded with the commissioning of a 27,000 b/d hydro cracker complex

2009 Plans announced to build $1.2 billion fertilizer plant in Ruwais, producing urea

2010 Adnoc awards $10bn contracts for expansion of Ruwais refinery, to double capacity from 415,000 bpd

2014 Ruwais 261-outlet shopping mall opens

2014 Production starts at newly expanded Ruwais refinery, providing jet fuel and diesel and allowing the UAE to be self-sufficient for petrol supplies

2014 Etihad Rail begins transportation of sulphur from Shah and Habshan to Ruwais for export

2017 Aldar Academies to operate Adnoc’s schools including in Ruwais from September. Eight schools operate in total within the housing complex.

2018 Adnoc announces plans to invest $3.1 billion on upgrading its Ruwais refinery 

2018 NMC Healthcare selected to manage operations of Ruwais Hospital

2018 Adnoc announces new downstream strategy at event in Abu Dhabi on May 13

Source: The National

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Updated: May 31, 2022, 8:31 AM`