How being early for your flight is causing more airport queues – here’s when you should arrive to get through quickly

PASSENGERS have been warned not to show up to the airport too early for their flights, as it could cause more delays.

It may sound strange but arriving too far ahead of schedule could actually lead to people waiting even longer before their flights.

This is because it can add to congestion around the security and check-in gates.

Consumer experts told passengers: "Most airports have now dropped the advice to arrive three hours before a short-haul flight.

"In fact several told us they needed passengers not to arrive too early for their flight because the check-in desk may not be open and it adds to congestion at airport security."

Generally, the guidance for airlines depends on whether passengers are flying on long or short-haul journeys.

For people taking shorter journeys, the advice is typically to arrive two hours before the flights is set to take off.

However, for long haul journeys, passengers are told to get to the airport three hours before they fly.

There are ways people can ensure they will pass through the security gates quicker than others.

This includes paying extra for fast track.

However, Which? say this is only really worth paying for if passengers are flying at "peak" times.

Ordinarily, it shouldn't take much longer than quarter-of-an-hour to get through the gates.

They continued: "it's only worth buying fast track if you're flying at peak time, from an airport where queues are typically bad anyway.

"When we asked the major airports for security queue data in summer 2023, they told us that the majority of people get through security in under 15 minutes."

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Passengers don't need to pay extra money to get through security quicker.

Booking an earlier flight is one way in which people can make sure they pass through the airport without getting held up.

Aviation expert and author William McGee : “The first flight of the day is more important now than ever.

"You should book that 6 a.m. departure as delays tend to pile up later in the day."

Meanwhile, a mum revealed the big errors that parents make when travelling with children.

And an easy plane ticket mistake could end up costing you money.