Airline passengers are pretending to be disabled to jump massive queues caused by staff shortages at airports.Birmingham Airport has seen a huge 20% rise in people asking for assistance, according to bosses.They say the surge has meant the airport has had to buy more wheelchairs and allocate staff to push them.“If people are pretending it’s potentially stopping genuinely disabled people from getting a place, and that’s pretty grim,” a source said.“You can’t just say to people, ‘no, you’re lying’.”And one industry boss said: “There should be a special place reserved in hell for people who pretend to be disabled.”Disabled passengers are able to skip queues at security, use fast-track lanes and get help through immigration, customs and baggage reclaim.The jump in the number of passengers claiming to be disabled comes as hundreds of flights have been delayed or cancelled in the last week.Brits are also beating airport chaos by adding pockets to jackets and stuffing them with clothes to avoid taking a suitcase to the dreaded bag drop queue.Savvy travellers are breezing through airports with no checked luggage – and airline staff have not objected.Lee Cimino, from Stoke-on-Trent, who tried the travel hack, said: “I got everything I needed in the coat, including underwear, clothes, and toiletries.“There was no reaction from check-in, through security, to getting on the plane.”Ryanair said: “Customers might look like the Michelin Man.”MoneySavingExpert.com chief Martin Lewis backed the idea.
