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Travellers are now ‘belt bumping’ in airports that is making experience unbearable

Home> Lifestyle> Travel

Updated 12:48 25 Feb 2026 GMTPublished 17:10 31 Dec 2025 GMT

Travellers are now ‘belt bumping’ in airports that is making experience unbearable

This is apparently the new thing to avoid doing

Joe Harker

Joe Harker

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Travellers are apparently getting hopping mad at something called 'belt bumping' which goes on in airports and is ruining people's experience.

Going through airports isn't exactly the most smooth experience at the best of times, there's lots of hurrying up and plenty of waiting around too, and one of the least pleasant aspects of this is the security checks.

We might understand why you have to go through all of these checks to avoid any catastrophic events, but for most people who have to jump through a series of hoops, it's pretty annoying.

That's where something called 'belt bumping' comes in, and if you haven't heard of the term before that's because it was made up by Metro.

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Just put your trays away, it takes two seconds (Alex Wong/Getty Images)
Just put your trays away, it takes two seconds (Alex Wong/Getty Images)

What is ‘belt bumping’?

It refers to those annoying folks who won't put their tray away once they've grabbed all their things off the conveyor belt.

Remember the spot in the airport where you stick all your stuff in a plastic tray and it goes through an X-ray machine? People who like 'belt bumping' grab their stuff off the tray and just leave their plastic tub on the rollers at the other side.

It clogs up the back end of the conveyor belt, slows everything down and makes another job for the staff who are already pretty busy.

You might understand why people don't want to touch the trays any more than they have to. Studies indicate they're less hygienic than a toilet seat and are crawling with viruses, but at least put yours away considering all your stuff has been on that germy surface.

It's just another prick of annoyance at an already unpleasant part of the air travel experience, so do everyone a favour and put your tray away.

"Sir, please put your tray away. Also, you appear to be carrying a number of weapons in your luggage, we need to have a chat about that." (Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)
"Sir, please put your tray away. Also, you appear to be carrying a number of weapons in your luggage, we need to have a chat about that." (Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)

Trying to be hygienic at the airport is handy but leaving your tray out isn't helping, and if you really want to look after yourself, then just remember to regularly wash your hands with soap and water.

There are some folks who will throw hygiene and manners out of the window and decide they don't need to wash their hands while travelling and might even take off their shoes to make everyone's lives less pleasant.

Other annoying things people would like you not to do as part of air travel include being racist to the staff, the people who are just trying to help you on your way.

You'd hope people weren't being racist at the airport, or indeed anywhere, but former flight attendant Mandy told LADbible that some passengers would kick off and throw a tantrum at being seated next to someone who didn't look like them.

She said that the problem with 'working with humans' is that 'you are not always going to meet nice humans' and there's always a chance someone will spoil it for others.

Just don't be a d**k and you should be alright.

Featured Image Credit: Getty Stock Images

Topics: Travel

Joe Harker
Joe Harker

Joe graduated from the University of Salford with a degree in Journalism and worked for Reach before joining the LADbible Group. When not writing he enjoys the nerdier things in life like painting wargaming miniatures and chatting with other nerds on the internet. He's also spent a few years coaching fencing. Contact him via [email protected]

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@MrJoeHarker

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