U.K. and Ireland - Olympic Rush Begins As Teams Land In London

And it begins...I am glad I came in last night! UKBA was empty in T3 at 945pm! Heck I was surpised my JFK-LHR (AA 147) flight was about 1/4 empty!

:)

Sky: Olympic Rush Begins As Teams Land In London (http://news.sky.com/story/960640/olympic-rush-begins-as-teams-land-in-london)

Thousands of athletes and officials will arrive at Heathrow later as the capital's transport system prepares itself for one of the busiest summers ever.

The first Olympic Games Lanes come into operation on the M4, which has only just opened following repairs.

BAA said it expects around 335 athletes to arrive at Heathrow airport today, along with 1027 'Games Family' members.

Teams arriving include the USA, Russia, China, France, Japan and Canada.

London 2012 organisers have been preparing for the arrival of athletes this week with rehearsals of the official welcome ceremony that will take place several times a day in the Olympic village.

The U.S. swimmers won't be coming over for a while. They just arrived in training camp in France yesterday. I'm a week away from departure from SFO.

I'm flying into LHR on Friday for the Olympics (as a volunteer, not an athlete unfortunately). Let's hope the non-EU passport line is less than an hour long.

I'm flying into LHR on Friday for the Olympics (as a volunteer, not an athlete unfortunately). Let's hope the non-EU passport line is less than an hour long.

Good luck - often depends on which terminal you're coming into!

Good luck - often depends on which terminal you're coming into!

Terminal 3 at 6:30am(ish). Haven't looked up what the airport load at that time will be like, but it's not normally a pleasant experience when it's just your plane.

Bus drivers were getting lost today. Took a few 3-4 hours to reach Olympic Park. The busses had GPS, sadly Olympic Park was not pre-set.

Bus drivers were getting lost today. Took a few 3-4 hours to reach Olympic Park. The busses had GPS, sadly Olympic Park was not pre-set.
Are you sure you weren't watching Twenty-Twelve (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twenty-Twelve)?

Bus drivers were getting lost today. Took a few 3-4 hours to reach Olympic Park. The busses had GPS, sadly Olympic Park was not pre-set.
Yes, that sounds entirely accurate. :D

Are you sure the rush is for the Olympics and not The Open? Spectator wise, I expect there are a lot more people heading to St. Annes than London this week. http://www.theopen.com/

I'm flying into LHR on Friday for the Olympics (as a volunteer, not an athlete unfortunately). Let's hope the non-EU passport line is less than an hour long.

If you wear you accreditation you will be speeded through the process.

If you wear you accreditation you will be speeded through the process.


Really? Damn, pick up the accreditation on Saturday. :(

I'm flying into Gatwick on the morning of the 26th.... I'm not holding out hope that the M25 is going to be very quiet.

Are you sure the rush is for the Olympics and not The Open? Spectator wise, I expect there are a lot more people heading to St. Annes than London this week. http://www.theopen.com/

Are you sure? There seem to be a lot more tourists in central London at the mo, at least what I'm seeing in the down my corner of the West End. Lots of Olympics junkies wearing T-shirts from past games and some even of future ones!

Are you sure? There seem to be a lot more tourists in central London at the mo, at least what I'm seeing in the down my corner of the West End. Lots of Olympics junkies wearing T-shirts from past games and some even of future ones!

In terms of spectators arriving in this week, yes I'd say The Open is driving the traffic numbers. Tens of thousands. Next week of course will be massively different.

In terms of spectators arriving in this week, yes I'd say The Open is driving the traffic numbers. Tens of thousands. Next week of course will be massively different.

I had to check what "The Open" was. With all the talk of all the sports this summer, I don't recall hearing that one mentioned at all. Not a golf fan obviously! :D

Terminal 3 was very busy at 8am this morning. Euro line was completely full and non-eu line was an hour long wait. Luckily, I didn't need accreditation to use the games fast track line, which took about 5 minutes. It did mean I got the carousel before it started though.

I'm in T5 now. There were a lot more people transiting than arriving in London just now. It's busy, but still it seems like any ordinary July day here.

I haven't been to an airport in the past couple of weeks (I'll be at Heathrow on Monday), but it does seem to me that there are more people around in central London than usual, even for late July. Indeed the other day in Regent Street, half-way along, it was almost impossible to move at one point – and I don't think it's usually as crowded as that there. Or am I imagining it?

There have been crowds of bewildered and disappointed tourists round the exit from Aldgate tube the last few days...

Indeed the other day in Regent Street, half-way along, it was almost impossible to move at one point – and I don't think it's usually as crowded as that there. Or am I imagining it?My girlfriend, who works just off Trafalgar Square, has reported larger than normal numbers of tourists cluttering the place up. (Apparently it wouldn't be as bad if they weren't so much in the way, but it's now taking her twice the amount of time as usual to get from Charing Cross station to her office)

I haven't noticed a huge difference in my journey into work, but then I don't expect tourists to wake up and get on the tube at 7am either. My journey home in the evening though has been increasingly more unpleasant. It's never been easy anyway trying to get on a train at Chancery Lane but in the last week I've had to wait for at least three trains to be able to get on then when I get to Bank DLR I've found bigger than usual crowds. Makes me think I want to ask to work from home next Friday.

I'm very excited about the whole thing anyway, I just don't like people ;)