Heathrow Airport descends into fresh immigration chaos
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at 07:21 by TerryMcManus24.
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stevescootsParticipantI came through T4 at 7am a week ago, EU line wait was about 10 mins, less than 5 on the E-entry. non EU however was waiting outside the hall and up the ramps, my guess would have been 50 min to an hour.
in line with most US airports then for non US
1 Nov 2012
at 11:09
Cedric_StatherbyParticipantI am either lucky or travel at odd times, but I have not had any significant hold-ups since the end of the games.
I do find though that the e-gates are not very fast: quite often one gets through faster by using the manned desks. And (without coming over all saccharin-sweet) I also detect that the Border Agency officials smile a bit more than the e-gates – especially if you smile at them.
1 Nov 2012
at 11:18
TerryMcManus24ParticipantDid LCY to Ams 2 weeks ago and Schipol immi was a a 1 minute breeze…in and back very quick.
Return to LCY it was back to the the UKs famous long march…shuffle-shuffle -shuffle…like polite little wooden soldiers…..and no nasty immigrants in the Q…Talking about Long marches….Nia How
………..Chinese take a stake in Heathrow….
A Chinese government representative is to sit on the board of Heathrow Airport’s parent company after the country’s sovereign wealth fund took a 10% stake in the company for £450m.
The China Investment Corporation, which manages Beijing’s foreign exchange reserves, has bought the stake in Heathrow Airport Holdings (formerly BAA), which also owns Stansted, Glasgow, Aberdeen and Southampton airports.
More than half of CIC’s stake is being sold by Heathrow’s biggest shareholder, the Spanish construction group Ferrovial, whose ownership of the airport operator will fall to 34%, said The Times.
Iñigo Meirs, Ferrovial’s chief executive, said the sale was part of the group’s “diversification strategy” of spreading its financial exposure across a broader range of assets in Europe and the US.
The Chinese presence on the 14-member Board could make it easier for airlines to launch more flights between London and China, said the newspaper report.
Meanwhile, a sale of Stansted Airport – which has been forced on the company by competition regulators – has been narrowed down to a shortlist of four possible buyers — Manchester Airports Group, New Zealand’s Morrison & Co, the Australian bank Macquarie and the US buyout firm, TPG.
…What ……..No Lee Kai Shin?
1 Nov 2012
at 12:51
RichardBarrParticipantPassed through LHR T5 immigration on Oct 21st. I was waiting for less than 5 minutes. Far better than esrlier this year.
1 Nov 2012
at 13:36
pdtravellerParticipantFriends tell me that on Sunday night it took longer to get through the EU line at T5 than to fly from Munich. Can anyone confirm? Is this a return to the chaos of last year?
26 Aug 2013
at 18:57
AspirationalFlyerParticipantI have just passed through Terminal 5 in the last three hours. EU Immigration queue took less than 3 minutes, which was a welcome surprise given that it is a bank holiday. Bags on belt 6 in less than 5 minutes of reaching the luggage hall. The non EU passport queue appeared very short too. Overall a very good experience and certainly much better than anticipated – I was prepared for the worst!
26 Aug 2013
at 21:13
ForeignescapeParticipantSaturday morning I arrived off BA112 (landed at 0640). Took 1.5hrs to clear via EU line. Lines were even bigger by the time I got to the front.
26 Aug 2013
at 21:15
MartynSinclairParticipantRushing through T5 today, I noticed the first passport line entering the immigration area/hall, was “Non EU FAST TRACK BUSINESS AND FIRST”
Why is there no EU fast Track line in T5 or have I missed it…?
19 Oct 2013
at 23:28
rfergusonParticipantBeing longhaul crew it always amuses me the hysteria and media frenzy that engulfs LHR immigration…..’immigration chaos’ etc etc.
LHR immigration delays are NADA compared to some US airports. And you have the pleasure of being ‘welcomed’ to the USA by some of the most unfriendly vile people on the earth.
Yes, at peak times LHR has immigration delays. So do many airports. Another that springs to mind is Sydney – 1hr15min in the line there last week.
We can’t have it both ways in the UK. On the one hand we get in a tizz about the number of illegal immigrants entering the UK and on the other about immigration delays due to extended checks on people trying to enter the country.
20 Oct 2013
at 01:52
capetonianmParticipant“On the one hand we get in a tizz about the number of illegal immigrants entering the UK and on the other about immigration delays due to extended checks on people trying to enter the country.”
Fair comment, but the immigration checks primarily inconvenience people who go the legitimate route whereas the illegals seem able to circumvent controls, or simply come in legally and overstay, which seems to be the biggest problem. There is therefore, demonstrably, a failure.
20 Oct 2013
at 06:04
SimonS1Participantrferguson – not only can’t we have it both ways, we can’t have it either way! Delays at immigration and an estimated 2m illegals and overstayers in the country.
In most counties nationals of the country get immigration priority. Are you saying Australian nationals were queuing for 1.5 hours to get into their own country?
20 Oct 2013
at 06:30 -
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