Jenny Southan reports on how Heathrow is preparing for the busiest time it’s ever had.
August 13, the day after the Olympics closing ceremony, is going to be the busiest day in Heathrow’s history – so if there is one date that you should not be travelling, this is it.
BAA says that 80 per cent of all Games visitors will pass through the airport, and on its busiest days – which also include July 16, the peak day for athlete arrivals, and July 26, the day before the opening ceremony and peak day for arrival of sponsors and media – it is anticipating a 45 per cent increase in passenger numbers (up to 138,000) and 35 per cent more bags (up to 203,000).
August 22 will also be chaotic, as it will be the busiest day for Paralympic athlete arrivals, while August 28 is the day before the Paralympic opening ceremony and September 10 is the day after its closing ceremony.
Processing the huge numbers of bags will be a major challenge, especially given that the average traveller checks in one item, while athletes will have an average of three on arrival, and four on departure (to carry souvenirs and gifts). About 15 per cent of bags will contain oversized sporting equipment such as canoes, pole vaults and bikes, which cannot be processed through normal baggage systems – on August 13 alone, Heathrow is expecting to process 15,000 oversized bags.
To help deal with the problem, there will be pick-up and processing facilities at the Olympic and Paralympic Village for athletes, cases will be placed standing up on their ends to allow more to be fitted on the carousels, and staff will help to take them off the carousel and place them nearby to aid passenger flow.
The arrival period will be across two weeks, with passengers departing over a period of only three days. BAA commercial director John Holland-Kaye says: “Lots of people will be coming on coaches so when they arrive at the terminal, they arrive in one go. That means we will have periods when it is relatively calm and then we will have a flood of people all coming in. And if you are the one passenger who comes just behind that flood, you will wish you had been a bit earlier.”
Roads and public transport will also be swamped, so passengers should build in extra time to compensate for this, as well as three hours for processing at the airport.
However, Holland-Kaye is keen to reassure travellers that the Games will not be a major disruption the rest of the time, and the airport will not be opening earlier or closing later. “For the most part, it is going to be business as usual – Heathrow being full, we don’t have room for any more planes so we’re not allowing extra flights and airlines aren’t allowed to lay on bigger planes. The issue will be that every flight is full,” he says.
To prepare for the influx, BAA says it has taken careful note of how other airports in host cities have coped. A spokesperson says: “We have spent a lot of time in close consultation with previous host airports to understand how they met the challenge. Our planning team was in Beijing in 2008 and Vancouver in 2010 to observe the unique operational challenges created by both summer and winter Games.
“We also met with the airport operators who successfully delivered Games transport at Athens and Sydney, and at the end of last year the team went to see how Mexico airport coped with the demand for the Parapan American Games. The experience of former host airports has helped us to identify the challenges we will face in 2012.”
Heathrow is recruiting 1,000 volunteers fluent in 20 languages between them to help spectators find their way in and out, control fans and greet VIPs. This service will operate from July 9 to September 9, from 5.30am to 10.30pm. On August 13, there will be more than 350 volunteers on shift, while on the main departure day there will be 300. To create a welcoming environment, the airport will be decorated and TV screens will show the sporting events.
There will undoubtedly be queues at the various checkpoints but BAA is hoping to combat long waits. Security lanes will open earlier and close later, and at peak times all channels will be in operation. BAA says: “Heathrow has been working with the Home Office Border Force on plans to minimise the likelihood of queues forming at immigration and to ensure that we have contingency plans in place to deal with them if they do. As part of this, Border Force has committed staff to every desk at Heathrow between July 15 and August 29 – our busiest period.
“There will be dedicated lanes provided by the Border Force for all accredited Games Family members. Border Force will be able to ‘switch’ Games passenger lanes as required, to ensure the balance of desks provided to [normal customers] and to Games guests meets passenger needs. Border Force is creating a pool of volunteers to work at Heathrow to ensure an efficient border control process during the peak arrival time.” Even so, there are fears passengers may be facing 2.5-hour waits, as they did during the Easter rush.
To assist with the flood of departing athletes, a temporary Games terminal with 31 check-in desks and seven security lanes is being built for use on the three days following the Olympic closing ceremony (August 13-15). The day before the peak departure day athletes will be checked in and issued with boarding cards in the Village. The temporary terminal will divert about 10,000 people and almost 38,000 bags from the main airport.
However, business and first class lounges will be open to all those athletes travelling in premium cabins once they have checked in. Holland-Kaye says: “This will create a bit of buzz in itself – especially if you bump into Usain Bolt.”
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Dates to avoid
- July 16, 26
- August 13, 22, 28
- September 10
