Adelaide Airport hires more security staff and adds new lane as delays smash Christmas travel

With lines of passengers literally out of the door, Adelaide Airport is trying to fix huge delays before the busiest days of the year – which are just ahead.

Additional staff and an extra security lane will help reduce Christmas chaos as Adelaide Airport continues to be plagued by long queues stretching outside the terminal.

Five new security employees will start on Monday – bringing the total to 15 for December – plus more customer service staff and a new security lane.

The announcement comes after travellers were stuck in security queues during the peak-hour rush on multiple mornings in the past fortnight.

The airport has increased its security screening staff by 35 per cent since July to 230 just in time for the festive season, according to Adelaide Airport’s executive general manager Dermot O’Neill.

“An additional seventh security lane is operational as of (Monday), and more security lanes will be open for longer throughout the day, not just for the early-morning peak,” he said.

Long queues of passengers stretch outside Adelaide Airport terminal for the second time in a week. Picture: Doug Westley

“The extra security lane will play a small part in reducing the wait times to pass through security, but we acknowledge we have a lot more work to do to make this a more seamless experience for our customers.”

Mr O’Neill said 70 new airport security staff had been found since July and the airport would continue to hire more customer service employees.

“We’re now in one of our busiest times of the year as business travel meets the start of holiday travel leading up to Christmas,” he said.

“We anticipate our busiest days will be Friday, December 16 and Friday, December 23.

“Another initiative we’ve adopted is to redirect the security queue to our undercover outdoor forecourt, which has alleviated congestion inside the check-in hall and made it easier for people to navigate check-in and security screening.”

Mr O’Neill, who thanked passengers for their understanding and patience, said customer care staff, wearing bright pink vests, would provide updates on wait times, especially during the busy morning peak.

“Our advice remains for travellers to arrive two hours before a domestic flight and three hours before an international fight to ensure they have plenty of time to reach their boarding gate,” he said.

“In the meantime, we are assessing more long-term solutions to further expand our security and check-in infrastructure, and will update our customers as these plans evolve.”