[alainboy56]

@K1ngston — I think maybe she is a she, FRANCESCA BARNES and not FRANCES CABARNES ………….. but I could be wrong?

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K1ngston

[K1ngston]

[postquote quote=1009500][/postquote]

Oops I apologise if I am wrong 🙂

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alainboy56

[SimonS1]

So to complete the story, I left Dubai today.

Arrived 3 hours before flight. Quick glance at my covid test and UK Government form and I was in the lounge in 10 mins. All check in and airport staff in full battle dress.

Lounge was a served buffet type affair, choice of about 6 dishes, plus salads and bar – perfectly acceptable. No papers or magazines and spotless hygiene.

Due to inattention I arrived at the gate on final call, the plane was about 70% full. In usual EK fashion doors were shut and we then left 30 mins late (just like outbound).

Mask wearing was ok with some reminders and a handful of difficult people including some ladies in abayas (no nationalities mentioned to avoid PC comments but they were definitely ladies so the sexist angle is out). Full bar and catering on board.

Heathrow on arrival was hideous. Congestion in the jetty due to several chair pushers waiting for customers who had been told to wait). Piss poor planning but typical Heathrow. Through the egates then 45 mins wait for baggage as there were far too many bags for the carousel, lots of owners in the non EU passport line and no social distancing as people scrummed around. The worst aspect of the trip. Not helped by both carousels 9 and 10 being used while the rest of the reclaim was deserted – why, why, why.

Train into London and tube more or less empty, train down to Sussex I almost had a carriage to myself. The Government must be taking a huge hit keeping public transport going.

All in all I was quite happy, a colleague has also reported back on Kenya (19 people on a BA 777 and reasonable standards in the hotel we use) so may add that in to next month’s trip.

It did remind me how much I loathe Heathrow but for now we all have sacrifices to make I guess. Emirates seem to be ramping up again so hopefully Gatwick will soon follow – I saw Birmingham restarted this week. Fingers crossed.

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Frederic, K1ngston, fatbear, alainboy56, MartynSinclair

[cwoodward]

[postquote quote=1009293][/postquote]

That being the case then there is an easy solution: Don’t read posts on this forum – its not compulsory

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Frederic, ASK1945, alainboy56

[K1ngston]

[postquote quote=1009705][/postquote]

Amazing review Simon thanks, and as always wherever we all are the biggest headache is our very own gateway to the world Heathrow, who I see have been able to keep up their standards as being one of the worst if not the worst airport in the world…. On a positive note it sounds like DXB was relatively easy and efficient?

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Frederic

[MartynSinclair]

[quote quote=1009923]and as always wherever we all are the biggest headache is our very own gateway to the world Heathrow, who I see have been able to keep up their standards as being one of the worst if not the worst airport in the world…[/quote]

interesting comment K1ngston… “worst” in terms of……….?

[K1ngston]

[postquote quote=1009950][/postquote]

Where to begin Martyn:
1. Baggage Reclaim Horrendous
2. Immigration Halls e gates not working and horrendous queuing for others if they dont
3. Delays getting off planes
4. Security especially in T5
5. Congestion
6. Getting around inter terminal (dont know if you have ever queued up for a bus to go from one terminal to another …

Heathrow is the gateway to Great Britain, there is nothing “Great” about Heathrow and I have always said you can always tell a country by the way you are treated at the entrance and its not a pleasant experience at all IMHO!

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Jacob

[MartynSinclair]

[quote quote=1009955]1. 1.Baggage Reclaim Horrendous
2. Immigration Halls e gates not working and horrendous queuing for others if they dont
3. Delays getting off planes
4. Security especially in T5
5. Congestion
6. Getting around inter terminal (dont know if you have ever queued up for a bus to go from one terminal to another …[/quote]

I am sure you can give examples of the above on odd occasions but as an frequent user of T5, up until March 2020:

1. checked baggage delivered within acceptable time frames
2. Even with long q’s at e gates, never more than a 10 minute wait. Agreed there are delays when going through manual immigration checking, but no worse than the majority of the other world’s major airports in rush hour
3. Occasionally waiting for a gate to become available, but again never more than 10 minute wait
4. T5 security, it can be slow and I agree the UK is behind the majority of the world in modern and more efficient security
5. Congestion – not really
6. Inter terminal – can be a challenge but there are options

Heathrow is currently working far better than most airports around the world, for better or for worse, Heathrow is open & accepting passengers.

Now lets take a look at how efficient Asian airports current are… opps, they are working so well, i cant even get in without formalities that make Heathrow look like a walk in the park. For those that are currently in, most cant even get out….

Heathrow isnt sooo bad… just wish the rest of the world would be as open as Heathrow.

Apologies for the thread drift….

[SimonS1]

[postquote quote=1009955][/postquote]

Luckily I was near the front of the plane and the egates weren’t busy. However there were long queues at the non-EU desks where most people seemed to be heading.

That caused a knock on at the carousel as it was full and baggage delivery stopped (in the end a couple of guys came to remove bags and stack them on the floor). Interesting how Gatwick always uses 2 carousels for the 380 flights.

The baggage reclaim area was a total disaster in terms of social distancing.

Yes, Heathrow was open, but the whole operation left a lot to be desired.

[fatbear]

It always puzzles me how so many e-gates at T5 are not working. Do they have a serious maintenence issue or do they just switch a number off and hope they have guessed right about the number needed to avoid huge queues ?

[fatbear]

I have been on a number of BA flights to T5 where the captain has proudly announced we were landing 20-30 mins early, and then sat on board at the gate as the ground staff were not ready, defeating the whole point of landing early, except perhaps for BA’s punctuality statistics…………..

[travelworld]

fatbear- I think that, for whatever reason, they just switch a number off.No idea why.

[MartynSinclair]

[quote quote=1009992]fatbear- I think that, for whatever reason, they just switch a number off.No idea why.[/quote]

I have been told the number of egates open is in direct relation to the number of border staff required to monitor the picture screens.

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ASK1945, SimonS1

[alainboy56]

MartynSinclair – I don’t understand this?

Border staff to monitor which/what picture screens.

Am I missing something here?

I know I have been ‘blocked in paradise’ far too long now, so maybe my brain is failing ……………..

[SimonS1]

[postquote quote=1010026][/postquote]

The egates are not really automatic…..they are operated by some Border Force person sat at a desk checking the passport photo to the person at the gate.

I believe one operative can manage 8 gates (so 8 pictures on the screen). When there are not enough operatives then a section of gates has to be closed.

This isn’t like the real egates in Dubai that work from ID card with retina or fingerprint.

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alainboy56

[Author]

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