Chaos at Madeira Airport

Tobi Hughes·
Madeira News

Thanks to Geoff Turner for sending me this photo above, and his flight is already delayed as they have not cleared check-in queue and then the passport control is equally as bad, as some other passengers have let me know.

Not having all the correct information and the forms, and day 2pcr test not booked, really holds everyone up, and I find it hard to believe any UK flights will leave on time today.

What do you all think is causing the most Delay with arriving or departing.???

 

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Tobi Hughes

73 Responses

  1. Why don’t they filter passengers, those who have been well prepared and have all their documents, CV test evidence and pre booked Day2 test refs, process them and have a separate queue for the ‘not prepared’, I know the flight may well still be delayed, but al least the sensible people would get processed and through to Departure lounge.

      1. Tobi, the photograph shows two lines, with a bit of social distancing. But how are you going to ascertain the well prepared and the not prepared ? Put up a sign saying Well prepared, on the left, Not prepared on the right. How many people do you think are going to stand in the not prepared queue ?

      2. We flew out to Funchal on the 29th August and had already registered with Madeirasafe.com and had our vaccination certificates validated. It was a doddle just follw the dark green line to outside the airport where a lady verified your deatils and then off to taxi. What a doddle. Had free antigen test at local pharmacy, organised by hotel and paid for by Madeirasafe.com. Came back on 12th Sept, Twnety minutes at checkin queue, no queue at customs or security and very quiet. Lovely airport with great facilities, much more than can be said for our return to Leeds/Bradford, crap facilities, one mile walk from plane to customs. Dreadful. Apparently although the local councils of Leeds & Bradford have approved the update of the airport the pratt Grant Schapps has put it on hold, pity he doesnt have to use it every day. This is the main northeast airport and its a total mess. It wouldny happen south of Watford

    2. Agree with Raymond. Hardly the airport’s fault if dozy passengers arrive at checkin without doing the stuff their journey requires.

    4. The only way to separate the prepared from the non-prepared is too ? Check their paperwork.

    5. An absolutely brilliant idea Raymond, however the problem with common sense is that it’s not very common!

    6. Raymond, Tobi, Suzi, KWR. How many people are going to admit to be being not prepared ?

  2. I suggest you highlight on your website, covid testing arrangements for MADEIRA -both for entry and departure by air. Compliance makes it easier for all!

  3. I´m sorry, where does the photo above shows “chaos”? I see 2 absolutely normal boarding queues?

    2. Have you travelled here recently or back??? When it’s taking an hour half to two hours to check in I would say its pretty chaotic, and no way would I want to do it, and many UK passengers have said they will not travel on a Monday again in the near future.

      1. I recently travelled both ways .Separating queues between those with the correct PRINTED documentation would save between 1 and 2 hours both ways. Standing behind someone still trying to use a phone log in is the ultimate frustration. Visitors need to know more clearly what is required and at what part of the journey, then have a file ready.

      2. As our flights to Madeira are once a week and on a Monday we have no choice. I hope lots of people decide to travel on another day!

    3. We flew in from just Bristol this morning. Having missed two airport buses I can safely say it was truly chaotic arriving at Madeira today.
      We uploaded documents to the Madeira Safe site several days ago but whilst mine was validated my husbands wasn’t so instead of being able to use the dark green line to exit (which had no queue at all) we were sent down the light green line and had to queue with hundreds of people many of whom had uploaded documents days ago but none had been validated.
      The arrival queue could have been so much less had the validation process been far more timely! Hey ho we are safely here and happy to be home…..

  4. We have just returned from madeira last week and we see a lot of people getting to the front of the check in queue and not having the correct Information to hand!! I wouldn’t say it’s the airport or airline’s fault just people not understanding what they need to download and have to hand, the guy in front of us said no one told me I had to fill in the return locater form or day 2 pcr test!!! Really?
    We found it straight forward and went through with ease.

  5. David and I are coming out on October 1st and I an so confused about what we need to do coming out and similarly on return on 13th to Heathrow? Please who can give me a definitive answer. All we have is our NHS certificate of double vaccinaation.

  6. It is high time for the Government to cancel these unnecessary and expensive tests.
    Both the travel industry and the U.K. newspapers are lobbying for these measures to be stopped so let’s hope that this will be done SOONER rather than later.

  7. Passengers should make sure they have all their paperwork in order. Including their covid tests and their booking of day two when returning to the UK.
    You can’t blame the check in staff at the airport for the chaos. Passengers are to blame here.

  8. Anyone else find it hard to believe people are about to board an aircraft without checking they have the right paperwork?
    It’s mentioned daily on FB pages and if you don’t do social media, anyone with half a braincell checks the Gov.UK website or equivalent to the country you’re visiting to see what the requirements are.

    To delay other passengers especially if they have onward travel requirements, just because you haven’t checked your own paperwork is just selfish.

  9. The photo shows two relaxed queus at the boarding gates. Check in already done.
    What are you complaining about ?

    1. I think that another consequence of the pandemic is that groups larger than 6 will probably be defined as “chaos” from now on.

        1. Mondays have always been very busy and “chaotic” at the airport. With or without Covid. But maybe because I am Portuguese, chaos has a total different meaning to me. Maybe for a British a queue and an hour delay is “chaos”.

  10. We left Madeira last Monday. The airport was in chaos. Jet2 had brought forward our flight by 4 hours which meant they had three Jet2 planes leaving within 15 minutes of each other. Everyone had to que together. Luckily, we arrived early and together with about 14 others we boarded the plane and then sat for an hour waiting for other passengers to go through check-in, passport control, security, etc. Some said they had been queuing for over three hours. Many people did not have the correct forms required at check-in and the staff had to assist them. Some poor passengers were obviously having difficulty walking and standing and the children, whilst bored, were well behaved. Restaurants and shops suffered as passengers raced to their planes. Arriving in Madeira three weeks earlier we collected our luggage and I was told that I was the only passenger whose Madeira Safe square had turned dark green and could walk through. Everyone else’s form was still pale green and unvalidated. I had to wait 2 hours in a huge que for my husbands forms to be checked. There was a huge que behind us. This apparently was the fault of Madeira Safe. Still coming back in a few weeks time but the cabin crew warned me they didn’t expect any improvement and this appears to be the case.

    1. “This apparently was the fault of Madeira Safe”

      No, it´s the fault of people thinking they are still in 2019. There is paperwork to fill, whether you like it or not. If people don´t fill their paperwork correctly that is what happens.

  11. We travelled back to the UK on July 26th and the airport experience was chaotic. We were there at 5.30 for the 8.35 flight and they didn’t open check in until 7pm. Ridiculous considering the amount of people waiting. The check in staff were stood around talking and then were quite rude and impatient with us even though we had all the relevant paperwork on our phones. We ended up queuing for pretty much 3 hours and the flight was delayed 45 minutes which considering the chaos, wasn’t too bad. We did have a fabulous time in Madeira though with gorgeous weather.

  12. Just knock on the head the day 2 testing , it’s not needed , just a money making scheme.

    1. I wonder how many people flying back to the UK actually test positive on day 2 tests especially as you do it yourself! I am hoping they drop this by the time we come out in October!

      1. 3 of our party of 5 tested positive on our day 2 tests. Also 1 person flying back 4 days later !

  14. Antonio – by definition there cannot be a photograph of chaos. I think the photo displayed is purely illustrative and for effect. A bit like you saying that some people here do not pay one cent in tax which is also impossible.

  16. ………and if you do not have enough to worry about check your travel insurance. Our travel insurance part of the package with our Lloyds Bank Premier account, did not cover us when we came to Madeira in June and we had to buy 14 day cover from another insurer who would insure us for overseas travel in the pandemic at a cost of £230!!

  17. We returned to the Uk Saturday morning and I had already mentioned to Tobi later that day
    The delays were created by passengers not having completed what was required of them or some who couldn’t locate the correct information on their phones
    Even the Jet2 staff said the delays were caused by this
    I do agree though that the day 2 testing is a waste of time
    We have followed the rules and sent ours off this morning but I don’t think I’ll bother travelling again until we don’t need to have any testing to return or the day 2 one,

  19. We nearly flew out with BA on Saturday (then delayed 24 hours!) the main problem seemed to be that most people failed to have printed documents, which can easily be checked – instead endless searching and uploading on mobiles which takes far more time – maybe give people clear written instructions as they arrive in Madeira so they are fully prepared with printed comfirmations on departure.

    Regarding our delay on Saturday, BA obtained dispensation for Border Force UK so ‘out of time’ tests to return were accepted and we wet through the ‘e gates’ in with out a queue

  20. It was the same on 26th July. Too many people for the amount of check in desks. A total lack of organisation and Management. It took 2 hours to check in. The worst customer service I’ve experienced in any airport. By what I have read & established this happens all the time.
    The management need to address the staffing issues at the airport. In addition to this they need more staff at passport control as there were also long queues with only 2 staff and 4 flights to deal with.

    1. Have you spared a second to think about the cost of more staff?

      People tend to forget that even though Madeira has tourists back, airports had full year of loses, and still just about hitting the green these summer months.

      Aviation was one of the most affected and less supported businesses across the world.

      Budgets are tight everywere. I know this well as i work in a UK airport and every single department is understaffed at certain times of the day.

      The problem with aviation is that everyone is that everyone wants to fly out on a Monday and come back in the weekend, go out earliest possible in the day and come back after afternoon.

      So when you look at a departure/arrival board you can easily see busy mornings and evenings and massive gaps through the rest of the day.

      Madeira always been busy on Mondays, in part due package holidays were you get 7 days, fly in monday, come back monday.

      If the rest of the week is pretty much dead, what you expect airport to do? Hire staff for 1 day work a week?

      All i say is, spare a minute of consideration for the staff with probably workload of 2 people and for the situation the pandemic caused.

      Dont forget you are one of the very few lucky ones this year to actually enjoy a holiday abroad.

      Many Thanks
      An airport worker

  21. One problem is people have the forms on their phone/tablet but don’t know how to use them

  22. We came from the 19th to 26th july got all info what we needed from this site. Maderia safe worked perfect. Coming back the queue was long because everyone has to check in to get boarding pass jet2 got extra desk open so panic over.
    Thanks again for help from this site

  23. I too agree with Friedl. Why anyone would want to travel abroad currently anyway is certainly beyond my intelligence.

  24. At the Airport,
    Passport,
    Boarding Pass,
    Passenger Location Form,
    Covid Test Certificate. Test taken in Madeira, within 72 hours prior to take off,
    Evidence of 2 day self test, to be used within 48 hours of arrival in the UK.
    Luggage that doesn’t exceed the Airline weight allowance.
    Carry on case, that doesn’t exceed the Airline size allowance. EasyJet changed theirs which has caused delays.
    Have everything down loaded on your phone. Then have a paper copy of each. Then photograph every paper copy. Sounds stupid but I didn’t photograph my PLF, EasyJet mislaid the paper copy at the desk, I had no signal on my phone and was told I would not be allowed to board. Whilst gathering my paperwork together she found the PLF on the desk.
    Bearing in mind, there will be a mass of people behind you, all looking daggers, that you will be doing your best not to make a Prat of yourself and if this is your first experience since the Virus, unhelpful comments from superior beings, Friedl and Richard do not help. They don’t tell us if they are speaking from experience.

    If I sound confident I’m not, if I’ve forgotten anything, please correct me.

    1. Good list there George ? one question though, how can you prove that you have done the plf at gov.uk? I have my Android tablet but no way of printing stuff once I am in Funchal.

      3. Maurice, You’re an old hand and I’m sure your’e on first name terms with many locals, mainly, like me, barman and waiters. You know the Madeirans it won’t take long for someone offer to print your PLF. Just send an email. with completed form as an attachment to the guy, then buy him a drink. My Hotel receptionist asks me if I need any forms printed. Mind you I always buy the Staff a bottle of wine.

        1. Agreed George. The lovely staff at the Pestana Carlton were happy to print things for us.

  25. The best thing to do is all stay at home in fear and stop the world turning until the virus goes away, it’s not going to happen!
    It’s a good job everyone doesn’t think the same way Ann. There’s lots of people here having a fantastic time in far safer circumstances than most parts of the world at present.
    People just want to get on with their lives as best they can and enjoy some freedoms.
    I’m lucky enough to live here however there’s many a time I’ve queued at LHR and LGW for an hour and more to check in and that was pre covid.
    A holiday here or anywhere else after what most people have had to endure this last 16 months or so is surely worth a little extra time at our “chaotic” Airport and a few bits of paper work is hardly a chore and going home any queues involved it is UK government that insist on test here and day 2 test hence all the extra papers involved

  26. When we returned from Madeira in July, I had trouble booking the Day 2 test because the website wasn’t functioning properly. Had to phone to get it sorted. Then when I filled in Passenger Locator Form, it told me my reference no. for Day 2 test was invalid…Had to phone again and was told website was malfunctioning to try again in a couple of hours. This was 24 hours before flight! I phoned Jet 2 to ascertain if we could get on plane without PLF, they said no as it was a government requirement not a Jet 2 requirement. Got sorted, no problems at airport but a couple of days after returning, we got message from Border Control to phone them immediately or they would be sending Police around to our home as they could not locate us on Day 2. Someone had read Portugal on our PLF and not looked further down the page to Madeira island visited, no visit to mainland. This produced a profuse apology from Border Control Senior Management! At this point Portugal was amber, Madeira green. Agree Day 2 test is just a money making needless exercise and if people can travel to football matches and horse racing venues without tests, I see no reason for those of us who are fully vaccinated not to travel without all this fuss. Covid will be with us for years to come, we have to learn to live with it, take care and behave sensibly.

  27. I just have a question, we will be returning with hand luggage only, do we have to go to Jet2 desk to be checked in or can we continue through to passport control and security?

    1. Gillian, you will have to go to the check-in desks as they have to check all of your paperwork as listed by George Nabbs 3 posts back.

  29. Frankly, to those wanting life to return to normal, normal for me when travelling abroad over many years was no hours of queues in ports and airports, no paperwork to fill in, no chasing contradictory info blah blah on websites, no messing about with tests on days before and after travelling, no having to pay for any at ridiculously overinflated prices, no standing in queues waiting for people without the appropriate info, confirmations, up to the minute knowledge etc etc al, and no stress before the holiday, nor during the holiday wondering if I’d become red or amber during it. That’s why I’m not travelling abroad; fear doesn’t come into it, either. Hope you’ll all enjoy your chase for normality!

    2. Welcome to the new normal, Life will never be the same as we knew with or without a vaccine wake up people.

  30. We travelled to Madeira back in May/June and I commented at that time how inefficient the airport system was for arrivals (passport control) and departures (document check and check in). I made suggestions then, largely along the lines that others on this thread have already made, for improved efficiency. I cannot believe that the airport has not made changes. The job at check in needs to be split between document checking and actual check in. A team of dedicated document checkers could preprocess travellers and get the queues moving fast. It would be easy to implement and run. I suggest at the very least that large posters are put up by each check in queue with travel requirements on it. On the day we left, our Easyjet pilot delayed the plane by over 30 minutes so we could all get on it. BTW I wonder if the airport has considered that it will be losing money, no time to browse in duty free or have a drink, just a mad run to the boarding gate.

  31. Ww returned on 19th July. It seemed all passengers knew what to do (then), but there were only 2 check-in desks open for the Jet2 flight. As many people were on package holidays, large numbers arrived at the same time. Jet2 had brought forward our pick-up time, which was a useful nudge it would be slow
    We’ve visited Madeira many times and, before the e-gates, the passport control was always slow. Now, with no e-gates for UK passengers ‘slow’ doesn’t come close. 2 full UK bound flights departing within minutes of each other and one booth open, functioning as slowly as possible without physically stopping! From drop off through to boarding took well over 2 hours and we weren’t the last to board.No we didn’t meander through or visit the café!

  32. We went with TUI and they didn’t have enough check in desks open, long queues. Didn’t take any more time really once at check in than it would normally, as long as you have all the forms with you that are required.

    There were hardly any folk queuing at the EU passport line 95% British passengers from what we observed. Only 2 passport control officers for gates 13 – 19. Airport needs to pull its finger out if it needs us to continue to visit.

    We arrived at Birmingham airport and they have staff to check your paperwork before you go to passport control and it was quick and easy which was welcomed.

  33. We arrived yesterday. Total chaos. Took one hour to get through airport after we got our luggage. OMG. Make seperate ques for double jabbed with COVID-19 passport and seperate ques for people without. And implement scanners and not people walking around with Ipads. But happy to be back. With covid passport, Quick test and pcr test before arriving

  34. How interesting, we frlw back to England on Mon 9th August and didn’t notice any of these problems. Yes, Jet2 check-in line was long but we were the last off a full transfer coach (arriving around 8.30am for 10.50am flight) and queue. seemed to go down relatively quickly. Minimal queue at security and passport control too. I did have to be very organised with all the Covid paperwork, including asking our Pestana hotel to print our negative tests and PLFs, and uploading our vacc certs to Madeira Safe well in advance of travel so they were actually validated when we arrived (I wondered why almost everyone else was in the ‘unvaccinated’ line…) It was so much harder than our travels to Malta last year (but that’s not Madeira’s fault, just that times have moved on, we couldn’t even have gone to Malta this year as have teenage unvaccinated son) but Madeira was great (our first time!) so worth all the palaver I guess (though looking forward to returning in non-Xovid times)

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