(CNN) – Long-standing images with subtitles referring to several hours of waiting at London’s Heathrow Airport have appeared on social media, prompting the airport’s press office to criticize the British Border Force on Saturday. .
“We are deeply saddened that night passengers (Friday) have faced unacceptable queuing times due to the lack of Border Force officers on duty,” a Heathrow spokesman said on Saturday.
“The Border Force was aware of the additional demand from families and was very disappointed that they did not provide sufficient resources,” the statement added.
The Border Force reports to the Interior Ministry, which on Saturday responded by admitting that the situation was “unacceptable”.
“Throughout the pandemic, we have been clear that queuing times can be longer, as we ensure that all passengers comply with the health measures in place to protect the UK public. However, the long waiting times that we saw at Heathrow last night are unacceptable, “the Interior Ministry said in a statement.
The airport is experiencing “the busiest weekends of the year for returning passengers, with a particularly high number of families with children under the age of 12 unable to use electronic gates,” the statement said.
Electronic gates are automated self-service stations that use facial recognition technology, but people traveling with children under 12 cannot use them.
“The Border Force is rapidly reviewing its lists and capacity and flexibly deploying our staff at the airport to improve waiting times,” the Interior Ministry said.
The Heathrow press office said it was making its own staff available to help manage the lines, while stressing the need to have all immigration counters during rush hours.
The office said it stepped up the matter with the Border Force so they could “offer better service for the rest of the weekend.”