[Tom Otley]

Well, we’ve been warned….

World Cup: Heathrow queue misery as border staff watch England game

Passengers faced queues of three hours to get through passport control at Heathrow because border officials were watching the World Cup….

[openfly]

….or going sick and watching it at home in comfort, with a few beers….but still being paid!

[canucklad]

What’s happening ? I seem to have missed this !!

[capetonianm]

Another reason to hate football – as if there aren’t enough anyway.

2 users thanked author for this post.

LuganoPirate, Inthesandpit

[capetonianm]

And another :

Tube strike from 9pm TONIGHT is set to wreak havoc for thousands of England fans trying to make their way home from London after World Cup semi-final with Croatia

[christopheL]

How difficult is it to live next to people who do not think and do not have the same interest as yourself …

[capetonianm]

Quoi?

1 user thanked author for this post.

GivingupBA

[FaroFlyer]

Flew FAO to BHX yesterday. Inbound to FAO early but delayed 45 mins departing FAO because of a shortage of French ATC. Captain wondered if it was a consequence of France winning the night before:-)

[Uncledude]

No Different than SuperBowl Sunday in DFW.

The main difference of course it only happen that England reach the World Cup semis approx every 30 years whereas Superbowl Happens every Year.

Always look on the Bright Side of Life

[David61]

Since when is it anything to do with the CEO at LHR to determine how many border force staff are on at any time?

[Tasclean]

16 June – coming thru non-EU immigration at T5 we had the pain of watching France’s penalty v our Aussies, but then, on the same TV screen suspended over our slalom-course queue, the great pleasure in seeing Australia equalise.. time between goals was only about 5 mins but swear it seemed a lot longer.. as for the silly LHR practice of leaving all those barriers in place even when there isn’t a long line.

[openfly]

@Tasclean…..you are right. We queue and queue and queue, it’s our sheep mentality. At our airports the uni-queue gives the airport authorities power to herd us, control us, irrespective of how many people are there. We love walking up and down interminably. We have no choice because no goon has the authority or motive to alter the layout.

[capetonianm]

I got shouted at once by a ‘security official’ for ducking under the barriers for the ‘uniqueue’. I would probably have had to do 10 circuits. There were about 4 people waiting for the booths and nobody in the queue.

I’ve also had to endure sarcastic remarks for refusing to use the the electronic gates, because I prefer to deal with a human. I understand that both options exist so that we have a choice.

[Tom Otley]

Airport queues highlight UK’s border problems ahead of Brexit

“In a letter sent last month to Paul Lincoln, director-general of Border Force, Mr Holland-Kaye complained that during one of England’s World Cup matches this summer, the number of manned desks at Heathrow halved, from 22 to 11, and queue times increased to three hours.

“This seems to me to be a failure of leadership,” he wrote.

The Home Office, which is in charge of Border Force, blamed the temporary failure during the World Cup match on a problem with a visa-checking computer system and complex casework for vulnerable travellers.

A Home Office spokesperson said: “Every effort is made to keep delays at the border to a minimum, but we also have a duty to maintain the security of the UK border, which means checking 100 per cent of scheduled arriving passengers…..

[Tom Otley]

British Airways boss urges government to address “border farce”

Here is the text of the letter

Heathrow queues

Sir, You report that the prime minister is considering designated lanes for UK passport holders at our airports (“UK-only passport lines after Brexit ‘will lengthen queues’ ”, August 2). Whether this is a good idea for Britain as it enters the post-Brexit era is a matter for government, but the Home Office’s priority now should be to prevent long queues building up on arrival at Heathrow.

Two-hour queues are fast becoming the norm for those visiting from outside the European Economic Area (EEA), despite a target of no more than a 45-minute wait. Even EEA citizens wait almost an hour.

This is unacceptable, yet Nick Jariwalla, the head of Border Force at Heathrow, said recently that things were unlikely to change and it was unreasonable for his team to be expected to meet their targets.

Last year Heathrow missed its target for non-EEA arrivals 8,298 times. It has already missed its target more than 6,000 times this year. Queues are significantly worse than at many other major world airports.

What kind of message does this send, as we try to build links outside the EU? We need more than UK-only lanes to show Britain is open for business, and that includes Sajid Javid taking immediate action to address this border farce once and for all.
Alex Cruz
CEO and chairman, British Airways

He’s right, but it seems strange that he’s writing to The Times about it – you would have thought BA would have more direct channels of influence than that.

Border farce creating two‑hour passport queues, says BA chief

[Author]

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