DELLAS

Sadly this does not surprise me one bit. Most likely from Hounslow innit Sign of the times and a failed education system.

corporate-wage-slave

From the layout, unless the DUB passengers have passports they will have to go via landside to Domestic, albeit via a quick route; and it may be that even if they do have passports then it may be that landside is the only allowed route for Domestic (I've not seen the operating procedures for the new gates). It's probably quicker going landside since they would be well placed for South Security.

The duty free issue is a red herring (a) there is no duty free from Ireland for UK passengers and (b) sealed bags would be allowed via landside provided they had a recent date on them - it's the same route via Flight Connections anyway. All DUB passengers will have to pass through security. Though not if they go via NCL, but that's another matter....

Speedbird876

No baggage handlers to unload the inbound baggage? At T1, I've had 'no one to turn on the gate guidance. Or at T5, no one to move the air-bridge.

Very strange.

Ok, LHR, the runways are full. We understand.

At T5, there are limited gates. Sometimes buses are necessary. Ok, we say.

Surely, staff numbers is one thing that can be controlled. With so many other things that can't be controlled, it's frustrating that delays happen due to lack of staff.

Kgmm77

Wirelessly posted (iPhone 3G: Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 7_1_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/537.51.2 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/7.0 Mobile/11D201 Safari/9537.53)

Apparently the lack of baggage handlers was due to the flight getting "forgotten" during a shift change. I think the problem is that BA now have so few flights from T1, it's almost forgotten about.

I've posted previously about sitting on the aircraft twice in the last 12 months waiting for reserve crew to arrive from T5.

I really won't miss T1. Although the sambal soup in the domestic lounge was excellent.

skipness1E

Also at T1 it's Menzies ground handling from the BMI days, BA don't handle their own aircraft "underwing" at T1, and Menzies have no need to worry about losing the contract as BA are moving out soon.

layz

Menzies? I thought bmi did ground services in-house both at LHR and most of their regional outstations.

However if it is Menzies then it would be a bad idea to deliberately do a bad job as they use Menzies at other airports too.

At T3 yesterday the bags from the lunchtime PRG flight took almost an hour to appear, so perhaps BA were just short staffed. I've had good luck with baggage from T3 usually. It's often there by the time you get through immigration.

jmc1K

Why wouldn't it make more financial and practical sense for BA to just base solely out of T5, adding extra busing from A10 to deal with overflow? Surely the limited flights from T1 and T3 would not put too much additional pressure on lounges or security.

layz

Nooooooooooooo.

At one time I'd agree with you. If the T3 flights are getting bussed why not use T5 anyway. However, soon there'll be more space in T3 and hopefully it will mean airbridges for the BA flights. The T3 lounges are extremely pleasant places to be due to them being less busy than those in T5 and I believe T3 will be a much nicer place after the Star Alliance airlines complete the move to T2.

I'm not sure how they choose which flights go from T3. I tend to see a lot of AA tagged bags on the belt in PRG so perhaps they choose flights where more people connect from other oneworld carriers than they do through BA.

jmc1K

Well, I'm biased with the CCR card, but the terminal transfer experience at LHR is so bad as to really diminish flying J or F if you have to connect in. A lot of the angst over the terminal lottery could be fixed if BA would change the attitude that, other than in the lounge or on the plane, premium pax are on their own.

layz

To be fair most of my travel is point to point but my last trip in F involved going onwards to PRG so I missed out on the CCR on my return leg and as you say the BA connection process is anything but premium.

I wonder if my view on T3 would change if I had a CCR card? I know it would do if I was connecting most of the time.

When I was a silver I would have been happy if they'd moved the T3 flights (with bussing) to T1 (with airbridge, assuming that the demise of bmi meant there was spare capacity), when I got gold I appreciated T3 more for the flounge and improved catering.

Anyway, perhaps we all put a fiver in and take over HAL and get 5D built (with lounge), that'll solve everything.

jmc1K

What they really need is a dedicated F facility with private security and immigration channels, and apron transfers to and from the aircraft for any pax traveling inbound or outbound in F and their connections. If Lufty can manage this with their large operation at FRA, it can't be that difficult. I wouldn't be bothered if they had to limit it strictly to ticketed F pax. No GGL/CCR. But at least offer something a step up from current.

layz

I agree although I think one of the problems is BA has the largest F operation of the lot. Surprisingly, AF do very well on the ground for F pax at CDG but their F operation is tiny. Lufthansa has a large operation but is cutting down on flights with F too.

I think in BA's case it's space that's the problem. My compromise would be as follows:
- F pax departing from a T5 gate would have to walk to the gate as they do now
- F pax departing from a T5 bus gate should board to a more comfortable 14 seater bus at a separate gate. The screens in the CCR should indicate the departure time of this bus.
- Arriving F pax connecting to another flight in T1 or T3 should be allowed to use the Concorde Room if the departure is over 2 hours away. Onward connection procedures would be explained in the lounge. Either direct transport to next flight or a half-hourly bus depending on availability. You'd clear security at T5 so would bypass it in T1/3. If connection is less than 2 hours you should be taken directly to the appropriate terminal.

pipsi

The reason I ask is because later this year I'll be travelling from the US to NCL via DUB and LHR. If I buy duty free booze in the US I would run the risk of loosing my booze if forced to go landslide on arrival in LHR. A few years ago I was in the unfortunate situation where I'd arrived in LHR from an international flight, jet lagged and not paying much attention I ended up following the signs that took me landside instead of to flight connections (it must have been in the early days of T5) cutting a long story short I ended up having to ditch a bottle of gin I'd bought in duty free at the first airport. It hadn't been sealed in a bag.

Also I was under the impression that one couldn't travel to or from DUB without a passport? Can anyone clarify this? I have to go to the US embassy soon to get a visa and the London embassy currently has a two week wait for an appointment whereas there isn't a wait at the embassy in Dublin. I'd assumed that it wouldn't be an option because I need to leave my passport at the embassy for the visa to be processed. Belfast also had a two week wait.

corporate-wage-slave

You can travel throughout the Common Travel Area without a passport, so long as your nationality belongs to one the constituent countries (UK, Ireland and the various islands). As has been pointed out elsewhere, it's best to have a passport to show you, er, don't need a passport. But a driving licence is fine, and people get through on other ID too (Aer Lingus will accept a bus pass so long as it has a photo). You just need to satisfy An Garda Síochána as to your bona fides.

Leaving the US normally duty free there comes in a sealed bag, so you should be OK there, so long as it is kept in a bag. It needs to have the receipt visible on the outside of the bag, showing the date of purchase and describing the bottle.

pipsi

Good to know, the embassy in Dublin may be an option after all.