Immigration and customs blitz T5
Arrived at C gates at 0500 this morning and took ages to deplane as UKBF were checking for transit visas (which usually are never seen by government officials when the visas are actually being used). EU/EEA ciitzens and non-visa nationals were waved through without looking at people's faces, just the photo page of the passport.
Then on exiting baggage reclaim, customs were in evidence (with dog) and profiling which pax to pull aside for further examination of luggage. I predicted the TOWIE-looking girls and the mainland Chinese couple with a big cardboard box - both correctly - which meant that I slipped through unaccosted. Well, my coat cost more than £390...
This is the first time I have seen customs at work earlier than 0800, and only had deplaning passport checks once before at LGW in 2007.