Police could be called in to tackle Manchester Airport chaos, says Andy Burnham

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Police could be called in to assist in handling the chaotic scenes witnessed at Manchester airport in recent days, Andy Burnham has said.

The mayor of Greater Manchester made the comments following a weekend that saw the UK’s third busiest airport overwhelmed by passengers, with hours-long waits, queue-jumping and even claims that fights had broken out between frustrated travellers.

Mr Burnham is set to meet airport chiefs today to seek reassurance and offer his support.

“I have been in touch with colleagues at Greater Manchester Police at the weekend to see what we can do to support the airport,” he said.

”It's a difficult moment for airports around the world having laid low for the pandemic, they've had to scale up very quickly. We understand the challenges that we've got.

“But at the same time, we don't want to see the scenes that we saw at the weekend and we obviously need to work with them to work through those issues and make sure we're managing those things and giving the right information to the public and being clear about the plan to get things to an acceptable level.”

Greater Manchester Police’s assistant chief constable Wasim Chaudhry said: “As a member of the local resilience forum, Greater Manchester Police supports partner agencies in producing plans to prevent and mitigate the impact of incidents on our local communities.”

Airport officials have blamed delays and issues with queues on a shortage of staff alongside a sudden surge in demand for travel as Covid restrictions ease in many countries across the world.

A spokesperson for Manchester Airports Group said: “We have regular discussions with a wide range of interested parties about the recovery of Manchester Airport following the impacts of the pandemic.

“We have been using these conversations in recent weeks to explain our response to the staffing and other operational challenges our sector is facing as it recovers.

“This includes launching a large-scale recruitment drive as well as exploring ways in which our existing colleagues can support our operation.”

However, Manchester City councillor Pat Karney said the airport’s reputation had taken a “nosedive”, calling the disruption a “failure of management”.

After meeting with airport bosses, he said executives “plan to make changes” but warned delays could continue “until summer”.

The airport has advised: “If you’re due to travel in the next few weeks, please arrive at the earliest time your airline allows.”