Hundreds of people have been lining up at the airport’s check-in desks and security checkpoints over the last three hours, with the day’s first flight leaving at 6am.

Adelaide Airport executive general manager of terminals Dermot O’Neill said all six security lanes at the airport have been open since 4.30am, with wait times averaging around 15 minutes.

“It’s been quite a busy start to the day, we’ve already had around 3000 passengers pass through the terminal this morning,” he told ABC Radio at 7.30am.

“We’ve seen about four cancellations over the course of the day today so far.

“They were cancelled ahead of time and we understand the airlines have had the opportunity to contact their passengers.”

The airport has throughout the week been urging passengers to arrive two hours before domestic flights and three hours before international flights to account for the longer queues.

People queue for early morning flights on Friday, July 8, 2022, Adelaide Airport’s busiest day since the coronavirus pandemic. Photo: Andrew Spence

An increased security and police presence has been deployed to the airport.

An airport spokesman earlier said the airport was “very busy” but lines for check-in and security “have been moving very well”.

“We thank our customers for heeding the message to arrive early, and for being patient and courteous towards our staff who are working hard to get them on to their flight and off on holidays,” the spokesperson said.

Airport management foreshadowed at the start of the week it was expecting 30,000 passengers through its gates on Friday, coinciding with the start of term 2 school holidays.

A total of 100,000 passengers are forecasted to pass through over the next four days.

Management is also anticipating traffic will continue to build through the two-week school break, with July 22 expected to set another pandemic record for traveller numbers.

“Our security and customer care teams will be at full capacity to help facilitate customers from kerb to gate – we anticipate that check-in and security queues will be longer than people may have been previously used to,” a spokesperson said on Thursday.

“A few travel tips for customers include checking in online before you come to the airport, pre-booking parking online, and remember to bring all of your travel documentation such as passports and vaccination certificates if you’re heading off overseas.”

Passengers were rocked with more than a dozen flight cancellations on Wednesday, as airlines grapple with staff shortages.

O’Neill said airport management “haven’t seen many absences across our team this morning”.

“We had additional staff that we’ve been recruiting and training, so whilst we still understand that we are still in an environment where COVID may play a role, this morning we’ve had those additional staff that have kept us moving,” he said.

Travel demand has bounced back strongly across the world. More than 2.49 million passengers went through security checkpoints at US airports last Friday for the independence day weekend, surpassing the previous pandemic-era record of 2.46 million reached earlier in the week.

But the industry globally is also grappling with major staff shortages as it tries to rebuild its workforce. British Airways announced on Thursday it would be cancelling more than 10,000 flights through the UK summer – an average of 100 flights a day.