[MartynSinclair]

I don’t think I have ever seen an open major International airport terminal as empty as T5 this afternoon. All electronic passport gates open, nearly all immigration booths manned, but noticeably bereft of what Heathrow/T5 needs the most… passengers… it was very EMPTY…..How very sad…..

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Tom Otley, dutchyankee, FormerBA

[SimonRowberry]

I came through T5 last Monday and T3 yesterday. Both were, as Martyn has said, eerily quiet. No queues at all at Border Control. Used the e-gates at T5 but wasn’t able to at T3 yesterday as the Passenger Locator Form process couldn’t read the QR code on my NHS vaccination confirmation. Therefore I had to go to a physical Border officer but it was very quick and no hassle at all.

Simon

1 user thanked author for this post.

FormerBA

[FormerBA]

Indeed very sad, but I cannot help thinking that it is yet another self inflicted wound of Brexit and the catastrophic handling of the Covid crisis by HM gov along with the rest of the chaos afflicting us as a nation. I hear from friends, fortunate to live elsewhere, that we appear to be in terminal decline from the news reports in their home countries ranging from Australia to Europe. No food, no fuel, no relief from the misery of Covid-19, and no PM to be seen or heard of! When he is, he simply embarrassing!

And why is it that every passport gate is open and every desk manned when there are no passengers and the advanced passenger numbers data would have shown this. Yet in August, at the peak of flying, there were days when just 2 staff manned the whole of T5 immigration!

Transparency is a fantastic management tool and I would like to see the queue times at all security points and all immigration points across all UK airports and ports to be provided live to the general public via the airport or port website.

Border force have for too long hidden behind security but simple waiting times would help to ensure that the data was available and that individual management teams, as well as the pitiful Home Office, could be held to account for their planning or lack of of it.

9 users thanked author for this post.

Inquisitive, TerryMcManus24, Jacob, PeterCoultas, ViajeroUK, SimonRowberry, alainboy56, ASK1945, DerekVH

[alainboy56]

@SimonS1

EK starts to LGW on 10 December

[lostantipod]

It seems to vary a lot. Not just day by day, but person by person.
Returning from France two weeks ago, I reckon I was thru the queue in 10 mins. as an Oz national. My other half, a Spanish National, was detained for 3 hours by incompetent U.K. Borders staff who insisted she had just arrived from Brazil and needed to go to 10 days quarantine. They accused her of using the EU to enter the U.K. to avoid arrival quarantine… and demanded she show French border stamps IN AN EU PASSPORT to prove her version of events! Yet we travelled on the same booking, same covid test providers, etc.

[James]

Came back from Caribbean recently. 7am arrival – no passengers at the Border control. Back from Europe the other evening at 10.30 – it was the same. I suspect now the kids are back to school, there may be less aggro at certain times of the day.

[alainboy56]

@lostantipod

What are you saying? — be careful now! You Aussies coming to the UK and describing Her Majesty’s Border staff as incompetent!!
This is totally uncalled for, now you make sure that you wash your mouth out with soap and water and never utter those words again.
(Until the next time you entangle with their ignorance and absolute ineptitude)

By the way my deepest sympathies also lie with you for your own incompetent (‘jumped-up’ is an expression we use in the UK) power-crazed looney brethren you have down there, and all it seems, in positions of ‘authority’.

I joke with Aussies a lot about your ancestors having ‘ball and chain’ marks around their ankles, but it does seem that all the ancestors of the British Prison Guards from those 460 + ships that came to the ‘original’ Penal Colony, are now politicians. health ‘experts’ and in the Police force, and have now formed Penal Colony 2.0

[AMcWhirter]

More LHR queues today.

Biometric passport gates fail.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/oct/06/heathrow-passengers-delayed-for-hours-after-biometric-passport-gates-fail

[Keith]

We transited LHR from ATL to MAN. Disembarkation to lounge via immigration and security in 30 minutes. Two adults all docs in order but none examined on arrival at all Think we were very lucky. Doing same next week . Fingers crossed

[FrequentlyFlying]

I arrived into T5 around 1945 on Wednesday 6th October, on departure from BCN the news was full of 5 hour delays, speed gates out of action and carnage at the border.
Plane to baggage hall in about 10 minutes, all the gates were open and working and the border kiosks looked well manned.

[rodders]

Mrs R arrived this morning (Oct 11th) at around 9am and sailed through, no paperwork requested. I hope I have the same experience next Monday!

[ASK1945]

[postquote quote=1113323]

We can match this.

Arrived today (Tuesday) from Corfu (on BA) – plane pulled up at gate A18 dead on time (1740) – took 5 minutes for the air bridge to be attached. Straight into Border control within minutes – very well martialed, most e-gates open with no queues. Passport accepted, so straight down to the baggage hall, all 3 bags appeared immediately, walked across to the “Meet and Greet” on floor 4 of the Short-term car park, where again no queue and our car was parked just in front of reception. Loaded car and was away exactly 32 minutes after arrival at gate A18.

Oh, and on the way out the week before last, the airport was quite busy, but no queues at any time.

1 user thanked author for this post.

K1ngston

[Bullfrog]

I arrived Heathrow T5 yesterday, from Malaga, landing at 15,51, just ahead of schedule. To my delight, for the first time ever, the aircraft arrived ‘on stand’ at the terminal, excluding the need for the monorail. Disembarking in the first group, a quick walk to passports and no lines, just brilliant. Now it was just a question of collecting my single piece of hold baggage.

It must have been 16,15 when I arrived at carousel number 5, and it must have been 17,20 when the bags finally appeared.

Is this just another example of insufficient staff ? ..

[SimonS1]

[postquote quote=1111956]

Hopefully I will be on the first flight.

Good news for sure.

1 user thanked author for this post.

alainboy56

[AlanOrton1]

Last month on arrival at a quiet T5 bags took and age to arrive.

Last night at 21:00, about 15 mins to clear passport control. Busy arrivals hall, though all e-gates looked to be open.

Downstairs to collect bags and both were on the belt already. So complete contrast to previous visit and Bullfrogs experience above.

(Flight was on a packed BA A320, half of it set aside for Club).

[Author]

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