vinnieGLA

Whilst we are probably all in agreement that the dedicated lane was not fully prioritised at the best of times, it certainly assisted speeding the trip to the usually less than fast security area.

As best I can tell, whilst it has been implemented through the years in T5, BA never publicised the fast track immigration service for Int-Dom transfers as a premium benefit, only fast track security, access to which I assume will still somehow be provided and policed - maybe at the photo stop?

From memory, and I've only done it once as I am always transferring to domestic on arrival into T5, I couldn't find a specific eligible customers fast track line for arrivals other than non-EU passport holders, so perhaps this is enhancement is equalising the service for EU passport holders? Most other countries' airports put in place measures to speed through their own nationals, but the UK, well .....

What is wrong is the fact that it hasn't been communicated to the users of the service, especially eligible FF who for years have used the service and come to expect it.

gw76

That was always my experience/understanding

corporate-wage-slave

Just in case someone searches this thread.....

For T1 Arrivals, UK not Ireland, then you may well choose to go landside, and if you do not have you UK passport with you, then you have no choice. If you get your timings right with the Heathrow Express it may well be quicker going landside. But there is an airside connection, which involves a long walk to T1 Flight Connections, then a bus from there. Boarding passes for the connection are now checked at the start of the walk, which will be familiar to the other UK domestic transfer when all of it was in T1. If you are not sure (and you have your passport with you) it is best go airside since there are more airside buses per hour than Heathrow Expresses.

For T1 Arrivals from Dublin, there is a bus laid on from the arrival gate at T1 Ireland wing, which takes you to T1 and T2 Flight Connections (which is now regarded as one place). Then another bus to T5 from there, which brings you to Flight Connections and indeed to the domestic section which is the source of this topic.

KARFA

Well, just been at T5 conenctions with CWS and whilst the fast track and express conenctions lanes are still physically there for UK connections, they are roped off. This means at least up to passport control there is no fast track for UK connections. I wasn't doing a UK connection today so can't confirm after passport control - but CWS was so may be able to confirm the position between passport control and security.

The fast track channel for international connections is still there and open.

corporate-wage-slave

OK, so me and young KARFA, who is on unrelated travel to me, jointly inspected this new arrangement just now, and it is essentially as described by
OttoMH.

There is no Fast Track for Domestic Conformance and, critically, UK Passports. There is fast track after UK Passports. Today - as luck would have it - it was really bad. There was just one UK Border Force agent, handling a line of 14 EEA citizens and 32 non EEA citizens. About 10 of that 32 had Express Connection tags.

It would have taken me a good 30 minutes to get through that, however I decided to return back through conformance, deregistered myself from Ready To Fly and went around to the automated gates. I was the only person using it, manual checks on departing passengers were also quick.

Just as I did this, another UK Border Force desk was opened, but immediately took a problem case. The people at the front of the other agent were the same family as were there when I arrived, so not one person had got through UK Domestic by the time I had walked the long way around to the automated gates. South Security was empty too.

There was a separate channel maintained for Express Connections.

I then went to the duty manager of UK Border Force, and I have a feeling the problem lies there, rather than HAL. She explained that they had lost a number of staff to - wait for it - the new UK Border at Terminal 2. Therefore they were short of agents. I think they told HAL to reduce the queues into 2 (plus Express) and to end Fast Track, but I am not 100% certain, I'm relying on what I am being told.

A stiff note will be going to BA, HAL and UKBF Director General tomorrow! If I see someone from Special Services I will also complain there.

Now the staff shortage at T5 is apparently temporary, more staff are being trained up. There is a half way house which would make life easier for everyone - with minor changes to the glasswork it would be possible to feed one or two automated gate to Domestic Connections. Cost would be very low, and could in fact be done immediately if a HAL staff member patrolled the area after the automated gates to ensure connecting passengers went the right way (and it wouldn't be much of a problem if they went the wrong way).

EDIT: I've raised it with Special Services, they confirmed that this was not a decision made by BA, not least because they don't pay for that Fast Track (they do for South Security). It was imposed on them by HAL (and possibly imposed on HAL by Border Force).

Calchas

Certainly! And welcome to FlyerTalk vinnieGLA. Especially as a regional connector! (Although perhaps soon GLA will be classed as an international service, and BA are preparing for the drop in domestic passengers? )

Let's see some first hand experience of this, we've only had one report so far. (Edit: CWS just posted before me!) But the easiest way would be to dispense with the circuitous trip around the escalator, and informally let (probably without telling anyone) the fast track eligibles cut across from the slow lane at the top of the escalators.

Quite right, there is a fast track but only for non-EU passports at the landside exit. To be fair, it's quite impossible to imagine a situation where EU passport control might become busy with long queues forming . Still, this is no sensible reason to remove the fast track—unless HAH have decided to charge for it and BA don't put a high value on the experience of their regular and premium regional passengers. (Surely not!) The colocation of future Irish flights (which get treated as domestics?) might be a reason this has come up recently.

To be fair this isn't entirely true. At AMS, there is no priority exit for anyone except Privium members (a subscription-based immigration fast track scheme for Dutch nationals), and it is quite common to separate only by EU and non-EU passports at other Schengen border points.

AMS does provide priority immigration/emigration through the Schengen border for those connecting though. Just like any other hub airport (outside North America) would.

^^ BA are never going to draw our attention to a reduction in their quality though. If I get stuck in a long queue any time soon I'll write a complaint but I don't suppose anyone will care.

Edit:

Hopefully this will inspire an improvement!

Good plan. If we all do this whenever there is a queue hopefully someone will notice. I think HAH treat domestic passengers as a bit of an irritating afterthought.

The physical removal of the fast track lane, and not just closing it off with a tensa barrier, sounds like a semi-long term plan.
Edit: I didn't see KARFA's post either. So it is still there, which is a good sign (perhaps).

KARFA

This is exactly what has always been needed. The problem with UK connections is even if you have two officers - has often been only one recently - there is no separation between EU passports which take a matter of a minute or two to process, and non-EU passports which can takes ages. At least filter off the UK/EU passports with say 2 e-gates to ensure those passengers are not stuck behind difficult non-EU cases.

I agree with cws, it is a very big benefit to lose. Today was a longish queue, but even whet it has been quiet you only need one non-EU passport in front of you to hold everything up. Until fast track is re-opened it seems the sensible way to do a UK connection is exactly as cws did - go landside and you can then use south security which can often be quicker.

Btw cws and I had a brief chat with a lovely (attractive) BA ground agent who was equally surprised the fast track had been closed.

cziwkga

Thanks very much to c-w-s and KARFA for the description of the current situation. My last few times through fast-track domestic connections at T5 haven't exactly been lightning fast but this latest change definitely means I'll be going landside when I next do this on Tuesday en route from ATH to EDI.

I've one question, relating to this part of c-w-s' description of the process:
What does de-registering from ready-to-fly involve, and with who? I understand what it is for, but I'm not 100% sure which part of the process confirms you as Ready To Fly. Is it the first (BA) agent you come to when doing a transfer to domestic - the one before UKBF?

Thanks!

corporate-wage-slave

It's the very first desk, the only one with BA staff on it, who scan your boarding pass. If you leave the passport queue you see that agent again, explaining that you are leaving via the main UK Border, they will then rescan your boarding pass.

There's a danger with this since if you're very tight for time you may fail the 35 minutes conformance upstairs in main departures, whereas Flight. Connections can be lower.

cziwkga

Thanks for the information, and the warning. I shouldn't be tight for time this week - I'm mixing a paid return LHR-ATH with an RFS to get from LHR to EDI so allowed for extra time for the connection as it's a non-protected transfer.

Incidentally, I hadn't realised that Flight Connections had a lower conformance time - it would have saved me a long run the other week when trying to make it at T-45 for the last flight to EDI. (After which I had a long wait at UKBF as there was one person for all lines, and the person in front of me had a non-UK passport and appeared to be a complicated case. But that's another story...)

aircrashsurvivor

Ok. Well here goes. Please advise as I'm totally confused
My wife and I both silver, are travelling TATL to LHR in F with a connection 2.5 hrs later domestic UK in two weeks
I have UK passport (and Canadian passport) she has Canadian ( together we've always gone thru UK/eu passport control NOT the scan that I can do alone)
Should we:
1) go thru connections and if so which one
2) exit completely as if leaving LHR and then come back in via departures (is there fast track or is it gone
We plan to go to the CCR for breakfast as we arrive at 11:00 and connect to ncl for 13:40

Many thanks to those that seem to understand
We've always gone thru connections, UK/EU passport then biometric then up the escalator to fastrack security

drspear

will test this out 9-11 June ( mon to weds next week ) doing ABZ-LHR-CDG and reverse

in other news, I got my shiny new BA card today to june 15 and 2 new luggage tags

gw76

I still don't understand. Was there a UK passport immigration fast track lane for inbound international connecting to domestics ? ( I knew there was a fast track escalator lane to security beyond this)
If time, I may try leaving the border and coming back in.

lorcancoyle

Got to love the UKBA logic, when terminal 2 opens with flights moving from T1, let's move staff from the border at T5 - where there's zero reduction in flights / pax numbers occurring...

churchy

Yes, there was, to the left hand side of the normal queue. It was a single lane and fed into the same group of immigration desks as the normal queue...and it was never very fast