Originally Posted by
davydine
On a different note I don't recall anyone at Gatwick looking at my photo ID and I am certain that no one at GLA looked at it because it was tucked away in my laptop bag and I didn't have to go hunting for it.... How did they know I was me? I did have my picture taken as I went through security at LGW but would they have had that at GLA for the return flight?
BA doesn't routinely check photo ID on domestic flights, unlike some other airlines.
At LGW, you cleared security into an area where there's a mix of departing international and departing domestic passengers. Some of the departing international passengers are only transiting and have not crossed the immigration border into the UK. Obviously, for immigration purposes, they must remain "outside" the UK, whereas all departing domestic passengers are by definition "inside" the UK for immigration purposes. The photo is taken at security so that when you board your domestic flight, you can be identified as someone who started their journey "inside" the UK for immigration purposes.
I don't know GLA well, but I seem to recall that the domestic departures area is exclusively for domestic passengers, so there's no need for the photo routine. Everyone is already "inside" the UK.