I'm really surprised that this is news now. Every time I have arrived into Heathrow in the last three years I have had to wait at least two hours to get through immigration. Admittedly this is usually Terminal Three (I think the video here was Terminal 5?). Now Terminal Three is an awful terminal to get out of - apparently the shops are more important than having somewhere for the passengers to sit
. But returning has been an awful experience every single time.
Whilst waiting in the queue I could at least amuse myself by realising that it took me less time last year to fly from Ho Chi Minh city to Bangkok to get my connecting flight to Heathrow than it did to get from one end of Immigration to the other!
The other appalling situation is how people are treated - a lot of the time you watch as people who don't speak much English are introduced to the traditional English translation method whereby they are talked at in an ever increasing volume to aid comprehension and to assist them with completing their arrival forms. A truly awful introduction to the UK. I notice someone compared JFK with Heathrow - again exceptionally long queues there but my experience has always been that that is shorter than on the return trip to Heathrow.
I now try and avoid Heathrow as much as possible because of this.