Travellers have complained after queuing for hours when returning to Manchster Airport this weekend.
Queues snaked around Terminal 2 over the weekend, with some passengers saying they waited as long as two hours to get through Passport Control.
Pictures sent to the MEN, show hundreds of people waiting in long lines, luggage piling up on the floor and conveyor belts overflowing as a knock-on effect.
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One traveller, Ian McCarter said: "They were seriously short staffed and clogged up, not even checking passenger locator forms so all a bit of a shambles really"
Another tweeted the airport to say: "T2 dep security was pretty grim this morning .
"Very long queues , only 2 or 3 stations open because of 'staff shortage.'
"Saw one elderly passenger faint in the queue . Not world class."
A third said: "Check in this morning at Manchester Airport an absolute shambles.
"Arrived just after desks opened at 7.00 for a 9.35 flight. Arguments between airport and easyJet staff. Not enough staff on desks.
"Couldn't process the four flights without constantly changing priorities and queues."
And another asked: "Do you really think it’s acceptable to have such inefficient border control systems at Manchester airport after the recent Heathrow farce?
"Hour long queues, zero ventilation and no social distancing whatsoever!"
Describing Saturday's problems, Jennifer Stanley, from Bury, said it took two hours to get through Passport Control after she and her family returned from Mallorca.
She said: "It was just crazy.
"The queue was moving at first. The reason it was moving was they were making the lanes longer, nobody was going through.
"They just kept increasing the capacity of that lane.
"It was like a third world country, kids were screaming, kids were sat on the floor.
"There was no social distancing whatsoever, it was quite scary."
The Home Office said it is aware of 'additional queuing' at Manchester Airport but does not think the delays have been as bad as in Heathrow.
A spokesperson said: "Throughout the pandemic we have been clear that queue times may be longer as we ensure all passengers are compliant with the health measures put in place to keep the UK public safe. However, the very long wait times we saw at Heathrow last night are unacceptable.
"This is the busiest weekend of the year for returning passengers, with particularly high numbers of families with children under the age of 12 who cannot use e-gates.
"Border Force is rapidly reviewing its rosters and capacity and flexibly deploying our staff across the airport to improve waiting times. We are working very closely with Heathrow Airport and its airlines and we are all committed to making sure all passengers can have a safe and hassle-free journey."
A spokesperson for Manchester Airport said: "We are aware that queues at the border this afternoon were longer than usual.
"Immigration checks are the responsibility of UK Border Force and we will review events with them to understand how these circumstances arose, and to ensure that passengers enjoy the best possible experience going forward."
