gcuk

my Sainsbury’s last Saturday was 45 mins, the queue stretching up and down the edge of the car park 3 times. The First Wing queue in the first photo was considerably shorter but I guess at security, the once a year, summer holiday families with their litre of suntan cream in hand luggage will always slow up the process for the seasoned regulars 😀

Sigwx

Not really when ‘air corridors’ for quarantine free travel have been established.

The FCO on the other hand have a blanket statement still that is as useful as a lighthouse in the desert.

Glad to hear that flights are becoming oversold again on short haul due to demand and that today in T5 has been yet another HAL and Kim Yung-Cruz inspired clusterf@(k. Apparently we are prepared to welcome you back?

As for the staff attitude from HAL, I am hardly surprised. They are all being thrown under a bus via their own consultations process, so they are hardly going to be gleeful to see it getting busier and being told they are not needed unless they make vast cuts to their livelihoods.

Genius1

FCO travel advice to many countries changed on earlier in July.

Not anymore: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavi...ational-travel

corporate-wage-slave

The FCO advice against "all but essential" travel (ABE) no longer applies to 66 countries as of 4 July 2020.

Sigwx

Well be still my beating heart.

Define “essential”. I need to top up the vino collection as it is essential I can socially bubble without being a host that lacks the bubble(s).

I feel a trip to France coming on for essential purposes.

On a serious note though, at least that is something.

Misco60

Anyone flying at the moment should expect some hold-ups and inconveniences, but there is no excuse for scenes like this. You'd think that HAL and BA would be pleased to see people returning, and treat them accordingly.

I am increasingly convinced that my decision not to fly for the rest of this year, and to only visit places that I can get to by train (and that list is a long one from Berlin), is a good one.

Barnaby100

Lovely cabin crew on my Inverness flight- restored my faith in BA.

This was a flight that was something like £150 in economy when I tried to book a 1 way in February so I booked a redemption on CE. Apparently 100 booked and 56 boarded.

crazyarmadillo

BA is doing such a better job on the ground with the T5 lounge operation than HAL are. BA and BS should be proud of themselves.

So I was surprised about how bad the lines were at security,. Why can't HAL be as organized as BA.

I was going to fly in a couple weeks, first time for months, but I won't if those security lines are now the norm.

corporate-wage-slave

I'd certainly agree, not least because it was predictable. However I wouldn't want the story of approximately 2 hours on one peak Saturday and also about 90 minutes yesterday give the impression it's always like that. I'd guess these queues will largely have gone by now, and I'd imagine most people would have been airside within 30 minutes.

Barnaby100

But flexible furlough is now in place- supply and demand

As an example yesterday:
Almost no trains running to Manchester Airport
No lounge at Manchester, not all shops open and because the food retail was mostly closed and blocked off not enough seats for those who were in the airport
No information staff at LHR arrivals. The barber at T5 is a star- Heathrow seem to have furloughed all of their airside help staff and so he is having to help people as his booth is next to the unmanned information point and was fantastic
No tube or hoppa bus to T4 hotels (which is one of the only airport hotels open)
Hilton T4 open but not open
Parking at LHR in August-limited and very expensive

It is a balance between supply and demand but if people cant travel as services are still furloughed that will halt recovery. Maybe corporate apathy rather than CV19 will kill travel.

KARFA

No. It hasn't been since 1 June domestically https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/32432985-post600.html

And see other posts re international travel.

Grande Annee

Took me about 40 mins to get airside. I arrived T5 at approx 0915 and queued in the Club section

northeastflyer

There are a good range of hotels open for business at LHR.

SpeedbirdLHR

Queues are to be expected going forward as long as several countries have added requirements that airlines need to check before they accept customers. As mentioned elsewhere, OLCI has been disabled for several destinations due to these checks - off the top of my head I can think of Italy, Greece, Turkey, Poland that all have OLCI restrictions. I'd guess even a basic transaction could now easily take up to 5 minutes to complete. Through in travellers who don't come prepared and those who haven't got the required documents and that then increases transactions further.

Barnaby100

Not at the airport itself- yes on Bath Road
I was originally booked at the Sofitel who cancelled. T4 Crowne Plaza and HI express closed. T3 Hilton was £200 a night and then not available at all.