My last two trips through IAD, we spent about 10 minutes at the Border, and sadly had to wait a minute for baggage.
My last two trips through LHR, we spent about 10 minutes at the Border, and had to wait about 15 minutes for baggage.
At IAD they seem to have done a bit of rescheduling of International arrivals, so that the 10 Border Agents on duty at their 50 desks can actually manage the through-put.
At LHR we were apparently lucky, at 06** in the morning. The e-passport gates were operating [yes, all of them], and we were amongst the first to get off the aircraft.
I have no doubt that other airports, or at different times, will generate completely different 'statistics'. And that's the problem: snapshots of when it all goes Pete-Tong make great Daily Mail headlines, but what
is the reality? I suspect that the arrival of a bunch of long-haul flights within 30 minutes of each other would test the processing capacity of any Border, anywhere.
As a footnote, last year at IAD there was a 'staff announcement' that 'overtime had been approved for those staff who wished to remain at work to process the incoming International flights'. You can have as many desks as you like, but without the bums on seats to operate them - you're screwed. And who is supposed to pay?
