“Some passengers are getting very annoyed indeed,” one airline told Times Online. “It is taking them a lot longer to get through security than they have been accustomed to.” According to airline sources, queues to pass through security are taking as long as one hour at peak times.
Emma Crowe, the UK-based EMEA director for WPT Enterprises, which runs the World Poker Tour television show and website, said she is now allowing longer to get through the formalities at Heathrow. “You cannot leave it until the last moment like you used to,” she said. “You have to give yourself at least one hour to get through security.”
Alternatively, say some agents, passengers should consider avoiding Heathrow altogether. It is the only airport in the UK where the Department for Transport has ordered all laptops must be removed from their bags for separate screening. In addition, it has been made mandatory for passengers who set off an alarm when passing through a screening arch to remove their belts.
“I will now recommend travellers avoid Heathrow or leave an hour longer for their journey,” said Gary Hance, director of the business travel agency ATP International. Mr Hance flies weekly between Aberdeen and Heathrow and has seen the chaos for himself. “Heathrow is the only airport where you have to remove your laptop from its bag,” he said. “Why the inconsistency?” When this question was put to a DfT spokesman, he replied: “We don’t discuss these things. The measures we introduce are proportionate to the security requirement.”
It has long been regarded as a convention by business travellers that they should check in at larger UK airports one hour before departure for a short-haul flight. In fact, the absolute minimum time is 30 minutes, while the recommended minimum is two hours. “Arriving two hours early is probably what travellers should be doing anyway,” said a spokeswoman for Heathrow, which is owned and operated by BAA.
The spokeswoman acknowledged that queues have lengthened considerably since the new security measures were introduced. “We apologise for the inconvenience, especially if people have missed flights,” she said. “An average of 190,000 people pass through Heathrow each day and whenever we introduce new security measures, it takes time to bed them down for both passengers and staff.
“Around 65 per cent of our passengers are business travellers and many of them carry laptops. They will become more prepared to take out their laptops to be screened separately.”
A spokesman for British Airways, the airport’s dominant carrier, said: “We are working with BAA to resolve the issues. We are putting in queue-combers to avoid passengers missing flights.” BA has also put an alert about the delays on the homepage of its website, advising passengers to check in two hours early at the airport or, better still, to check in online. It is also recommending passengers minimise the hand luggage they carry with them. This is in contrast to airlines using other London airports, such as Flybe, which are encouraging their passengers to carry baggage as hand luggage and charging them when they check it into the hold.
● Another British airport where passengers are currently experiencing delays is Glasgow, owing to roadworks on the adjacent M8 motorway. The airport is warning travellers to expect longer road journey times for the next 11 weeks.
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