Heathrow's Hard Summer

Article by: Tom Hall, September 2007

In the film Catch Me If You Can, Leonardo DiCaprio plays a dashing young con artist who fools an airline into believing he is one of their captains. He strolls through a sleek and futuristic air terminal flanked by a gaggle of stewardesses, his progress serene. The message is clear: air travel is glamorous, sexy and a total breeze.

Ken Livingstone, London's garrulous Mayor, says the airport is 'shaming London'.

Cut to Heathrow, 2007, and what is still the world's largest airport (by passenger numbers) is stretched to breaking point, beset by delays and hampered by a creaking infrastructure. Ken Livingstone, London's garrulous Mayor, says the airport is 'shaming London'. How did it come to this?

Feeling the strain

In a sense, Heathrow's key role in the development of Britain's (and the world's) aviation industry has been its undoing. First opened to commercial flights in 1946, Heathrow has always been there first; consequently, it has inherited a legacy of aging terminal buildings. Then September 11 happened, and security protocols went through the roof. The 2005 London bombings didn't help matters.

The queues to clear Heathrow's security can take hours to clear, especially when not all the x-ray machines are open. At the other end of the process, passengers have faced seemingly never-ending waits for luggage. A recent Association of European Airlines report showed that between April and June this year the luggage system at Heathrow broke down 11 times.

The British government, spurred on by angry airlines, passenger groups and an increasingly vocal media, has announced an enquiry into how the airport is run. Heathrow, like seven other major airports in the UK, is run by the British Airports Authority (BAA), who has been accused of putting the profits from the vast shopping malls in each terminal before investment in security and staff. Ryanair, British Airways and the head of the International Air Transport Association have all criticised the running of the airport, blaming under-investment.

Where to from here?

A spokesman for Heathrow notes that all may not be lost quite yet. Ninety-seven per cent of passengers get through security after less than 10 minutes of queuing. The baggage rules for using UK airports have been the same for a while now, so travellers should be getting used to the plastic bags and one item of hand-luggage rule. And BAA is recommending that people don't turn up earlier than they should - three hours for long-haul, two for short haul and 90 minutes for domestic should be fine. Heathrow has also employed 500 new security staff and opened nine new security lanes this year.

And then there's Terminal Five, the gleaming, light-filled Richard Rodgers creation, complete with a landscaped civic space, due to open in March 2008. It will be British Airways' new home and should take the pressure off the rest of the airport. Far more suitable for a Leonardo-style sashay.

Surviving Heathrow: here's how

Leave time, but not too much time. If you arrive five hours early for your flight you're not helping anyone.

Read up on the latest security restrictions. If passing through a UK or EU airport, make an effort to comply with their restrictions right through your entire journey. This is especially relevant for carrying liquids - you won't be able to sneak a bottle of whisky through, even if you've bought it at Duty Free in a non-EU airport.

Check details of your flight before setting out for the airport, and heed advice about what time to arrive at Heathrow.

Leave time, but not too much time. If you arrive five hours early for your flight you're not helping anyone.

If you possibly can, avoid travel at peak times – and at all times visualise your final destination, rather than the airport you may be delayed in.

Take a look at the pictures of Terminal Five and look forward to March 2008.