Originally Posted by
jcm9000
You can't tell me there is not a better way to do it that doesnt involve going to t5c or waiting around for up to an hour? T5 is the only part on my journeys that never fails to rile me up and i put up with it as i like flying ba otherwise. Some of it admittedly is good, a lot of it is just head scratching. Anyway, back to work.
There is, we could just have a subtle "Exit / Arrivals / Baggage claim" one-way door that lead back into international arrivals. It would need staffing to ensure domestic pax didn't use it.
Originally Posted by
AA_EXP09
is OP not flying domestic, thus does not need to pass border control?
(disclaimer: I do not fly any UK domestic but have had no issues leaving the sterile area of the airport in Canada/USA/Mainland China.)
Yes, OP will not go through passports unless s/he is entering the UK.
There is no public exit of the sterile area.
At Heathrow (and Gatwick and Manchester), domestic and international passengers are mixed together in the same departure lounge. This includes international transit passengers who do not have authority to enter the UK. We use a biometric photo system to separate domestic passengers (your photo is taken on the way in and checked at the gate) since obviously domestic passengers might have no ID at all.
It sounds complicated or stupid but the other systems are all much worse (Full visa/passport checks for everyone transiting? Miniature departure area for domestics with poor lounge provision? Full passport ID check for domestic originating-passengers, with government staff checking visa credentials, even when you are just travelling inside the same country? No thanks.)
You can imagine a system where the domestic passengers were checked and allowed to exit and the international passengers were allowed to exit through immigration/passport control---but it is an unusual circumstance since you cannot get airside without a valid boarding pass. So the current system has been devised, and to be honest it works well enough.