Britain’s national flag carrier has warned that “totally unacceptable” queues at Heathrow passport control are sabotaging the ‘open to the world’ marketing campaign for both the capital and the UK.
British Airways (BA) said some incoming passengers to the airport were currently having to wait for more than two-and-a-half hours to clear passport control.
The airline also claimed that official targets for clearing immigration had been missed on more than 3,500 occasions.
Latest monthly figures, London’s Evening Standard newspaper claimed, showed that 70,000 passengers were made to wait too long.
BA also said lack of Border Force staff and the frequent closure of e-gates were adding to a “summery of misery” at the airport.
The airline cited further evidence of the chaos as a multitude of tweets from passengers complaining.
One American conference speaker visitor was quoted: “If you want ‘Global Britain’ a good and achievable first step would be to ensure visitors don’t have to wait for an hour in an immigration line.”
BA demanded action from the Home Office and said: “It is totally unacceptable that returning families and visitors regularly face huge queues and a sea of people due to inadequately staffed desks and gates in the immigration hall…The UK needs to show it’s open to the world, but the figures show that the queues are getting worse not better.”
At Terminal 5, BA said only 10 out of 24 e-gates were operational much of the time.
A complacent Home Office spokesman was quoted in the Evening Standard’s report: “We are committed to ensuring that Border Force has the resources it needs to keep the UK safe and we will never compromise the security of our borders.”
