T5 queues this morning (weekend AM peaks)
#47
Original Poster
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: UK
Posts: 1,731
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.
In the First wing they are usually delightful. I sometimes go airside when connecting as it is a pleasant experience to go through the First wing scanning.
Last edited by Prospero; Jul 18, 2020 at 5:01 am Reason: Merge consecutive posts
#48
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: LHR / LAS
Programs: BA GfL, GGL/CCR
Posts: 2,409
A rather specific question if I may. Thanks in advance.
For UK domestics , no check-in baggage and have BP, can you by pass the queue and go straight to the passport gate in the first wing?
For UK domestics , no check-in baggage and have BP, can you by pass the queue and go straight to the passport gate in the first wing?
#49
Join Date: Jan 2016
Location: LHR/ATH
Programs: Amex Platinum, LH SEN (Gold), BA Bronze
Posts: 4,489
One day I did get so angry at T5that I asked for a supervisor and asked him what kind of joke this is that you have a lot of staff doing nothing and you have plenty of staff to open further security lines and I wrote a 'comment' and posted it in the 'comment box', which he said he would be happy to read. Since he was the one reading it, he probably threw it straight to the bin!
#50
Original Poster
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: UK
Posts: 1,731
I think if they had been actively announcing this the queue would have been much shorter. Some people may not have had boarding cards though even if just with hand luggage as OLCI not available to some destinations.
I am pretty sure that not all the desks in the First wing were manned.
I had wanted to check my bag and had to dump a couple of toiletry items to go though.
Last edited by Barnaby100; Jul 18, 2020 at 5:19 am
#51
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: London, UK
Posts: 5,643
I suspect that even with the reduced number of flights, there's a substantial change in passenger flows at T5. BA used to be a network carrier with substantial numbers transferring from short-haul flights to long-haul (and vice versa). With virtually no long-haul operation, T5 is going to be primarily O&D, which will mean substantial pinch points at security (as opposed to the FCC), and I would imagine inbound at the border as well, particularly with no more eGates. Hopefully HAL can move some staff around, and bring back more when necessary - it looks pretty rubbish at the moment.
#54
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: London, UK
Posts: 5,643
When I was there at the end of June, on a lunchtime flight, there were perhaps only 15 to 20 departures left for the day. Gold Track was closed, but there was no queue for security. I'm not sure how many extra passengers there will be now.
#57
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: London, UK
Programs: BA Gold, SQ Gold, KQ Platinum, IHG Diamond Ambassador, Hilton Gold, Marriott Silver, Accor Silver
Posts: 16,306
#58
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Sheffield
Programs: BA Gold
Posts: 412
This is the same airport where on more than one occasion, my bags have been pulled up, I've waited 20 minutes for a manual search for the staff member to shrug and tell me that they've got no idea why my bags been pulled up. That's obviously my fault. Anyway, I digress.
Are LHR security still making everyone take their shoes off? Was that just an LHR thing or are other airports doing it too? That'll undoubtedly slow things down if they continue with it as traffic picks up again.
Last edited by kdhurst380; Jul 18, 2020 at 7:11 am
#60
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: Vale of Glamorgan
Programs: BAEC Gold
Posts: 2,963
You'd think that the airport and airlines would have spent the last few months coming up with a process for dealing efficiently with the inevitable, rather than being taken by surprise and having angry queues halfway down the terminal.