[Tom Otley]

It seems the queues are regularly of several hours

Heathrow says airport border queues at ‘unacceptable level’

Heathrow Airport regularly sees queues of three hours and sometimes six hours at border control, according to Emma Gilthorpe, its chief operating officer….

5 users thanked author for this post.

Shamsh, kevin46, Wendy, Bullfrog, PeterCoultas

[PeterCoultas]

About time somebody at the airport noticed this was happening…. well done Potty Petal for organising this stupidity

1 user thanked author for this post.

Shamsh

[AMcWhirter]

Daily Mail piece today shows how bad arrivals can be.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9346867/Heathrow-boss-demands-Border-Force-officials-bust-staggering-six-hour-immigration-queues.html

1 user thanked author for this post.

PeterCoultas

[FaroFlyer]

I think that 6 hour queues will be as big a deterrent as 10 day isolation in a Holiday Inn Express 🙂

2 users thanked author for this post.

Shamsh, jjlasne

[SimonS1]

Imagine a 6 hour queue and then finding out you were in the Holiday Inn…..

5 users thanked author for this post.

Shamsh, jsn55, kevin46, Montysaurus, PeterCoultas

[canucklad]

[quote quote=1094364]I think that 6 hour queues will be as big a deterrent as 10 day isolation in a Holiday Inn Express 🙂[/quote]

I’m thinking 2 birds , one stone here. Why not allow border “control” to increase their ineptitude and create 14 day long queues .
Although remaining civilized , best of British and all that. Chuck the queue the occasional cheese and pickle sandwich along with a bottle of gin and hey presto you’ve calmed them down. And in the spirit of the union , mix it up with some Irn Bru, Square sausages , Greggs pasties and tins of super lager.

Bring in the Glastonbury porta loos and you charge a premium rate for a truly classic British summer experience

7 users thanked author for this post.

Shamsh, jsn55, AllOverTheGaff, ASK1945, FaroFlyer, Montysaurus, PeterCoultas

[SimonS1]

[quote quote=1094373]I’m thinking 2 birds , one stone here. Why not allow border “control” to increase their ineptitude and create 14 day long queues .[/quote]

Not a bad idea really. In fact with the lack of aircraft movements you could turn the area around T4 into a giant tented camp.

Of course Nicola Echo would chime in that it needs to be 16 days….

2 users thanked author for this post.

Shamsh, Montysaurus

[RoyJones]

Perhaps we could arrange for Extinction Rebellion to block all border control points for a few days. Oh, I almost forgot, ensure irregular announcements that the queue has now been moved to a different part of the arrivals hall. We don’t want to skimp on the full British welcome.

1 user thanked author for this post.

Shamsh

[Davethepubsinger]

Just to add to the British experience, I see that the PCS has served notice of industrial (in)action on LHR. Who needs Extinction Rebellion?

[ASK1945]

Apologies Canucklad – lost concentration again and clicked the wrong button. There isn’t a way of removing an inadvertent clicking of the “Report” button, unlike the “Thanks” button.

[Lowflier]

I came through T2 on Friday morning allowing for hours in the immigration queue after seeing the news. However the UK queue was handled by police not border control. They checked the corona-paperwork and then an e-gate let me through. I was 20 mins plane to bag. The international queue was much longer though as everyone there needs to see a border agent however all agents present were available for them. No idea how long they would be waiting but it was moving. Slowly.
As an aside I had an LNER train booked way into the afternoon as I was not expecting such rapid processing. I booked an earlier train on the app and it allowed me to cancel the later saver ticket for refund (less a tenner) as I was doing the same journey. It reported days for the refund to be authorised but it came through as I was boarding. The money has yet to arrive yet….!

1 user thanked author for this post.

Tom Otley

[miningguy]

I returned to the UK via LHR on Sunday. The flight landed at about 0500. I had to connect through to Manchester so went to the different queue. There were perhaps 8 people in front of me and it was taking several minutes per passenger to process. Its therefore pretty easy to imagine the queues really backing up after more flights have landed. Everyone (including myself) was required to search through our emails to show multiple documents (proof of PCR, proof of PCR tests booked and the PLF). This appears to be a serious bottleneck and the obvious solution would be for the PLF to contain at least the PCR test booking details. The lower tech solution could simply be to enforce everyone printing off before they fly….or having a queue for those who have printed and not printed.

[canucklad]

[quote quote=1094803]veryone (including myself) was required to search through our emails to show multiple documents (proof of PCR, proof of PCR tests booked and the PLF). This appears to be a serious bottleneck and the obvious solution would be for the PLF to contain at least the PCR test booking details.[/quote]

You’d like to think that there would be a collective will to quickly fix the process , and future proof / /earn the lessons and apply these to what will inevitably happen with vaccine documentation.
Geeezzz– Just saw a large round pink animal fly by my window !

[miningguy]

I would say that making everyone queue up for hours only increases the risk of any Covid transmission, rather then putting people off travelling. If there was the will this could be dealt with very efficiently with appropriate technology or even a requirement for paper print outs before boarding. Either way this does not make the new global, business friendly Britain look particuarly smart.

5 users thanked author for this post.

BugAdvisor, jsn55, Jacob, kevin46, PeterCoultas

[MartynSinclair]

[quote quote=1094811]Either way this does not make the new global, business friendly Britain look particuarly smart.[/quote]

Entering the UK is no more difficult than entering most of the rest of the world. The difference appears to be, the current protocol by the UK is to understaff border control and the manner documents are checked on arrival only in digital format.

Try entering Asia – the amount of pre departure prep needed before even going to the airport is mind boggling – but it negates the need for crowds and q’s in the arrival halls. Entering the USA (as a foreigner) requires a formal application before even going to the airport. Not sure you can even enter Australia or NZ.

Travellers into the UK during the pandemic, just got too used to the open door and unchecked border controls….

3 users thanked author for this post.

Nickberry, EasternPedlar, PeterCoultas

[Author]

Posts