Arrival experience at tourist airports 2022

[Mr Mac]

Firstly let me say I am posting here as I am not sure if it should be here or airline and airports so MODS feel free to move.

With the upcoming summer holiday period and the ongoing topic of UK airports delays I thought it maybe useful for some information on arrival experiences at some of the more common tourist destinations. Most of my flying is for business so it is very rare that I get to places which are tourist oriented, however I am currently in Majorca and obviously came through Palma.

So first off it appears that most inbound UK flights go through one terminal and they use biometric scanning after which you proceed to a few desk where a couple of board custom officers stamp your passport (Brexit bonus!) and then you proceed to health check where you have to prove your COVID free status. I would suggest you print this on A4 as having it on a smart phone sounds great, but many seemed to have trouble finding it and as I have travelled throughout COVID it has been the method I have found to be quicker. Plane to baggage hall took around 40 min. I have travelled in to Madeira for work and a holiday and there they do not simply stamp your passport it is a biometric scan and stamp and cues were longer , and COVID check post passport with Madeira Health Check App or printed A4.

I have to point out I travel on a Swiss passport but Mrs Mac does not, but I being the dutiful husband cue with her as it would otherwise end in tears and they would be mine when she got through !!

Anyway I hope that may help some people doing the getaway this summer as to what to expect at those two destinations I would think there maybe others who can give information on Mainland Spain, Greece, Italy etc which maybe useful to fellow cabin members and passengers in general.

Cheers
Mr Mac

[Dave Gittins]

Flew into Kos by easyJet from LGW on Thurs 2 June, 5 minute Q at bag drop, 5 minute Q at security left LGW about 40 mins late. Arrived Kos about 22.30. Short queue for passports to be stamped. No health check or request to see Covid jab evidence; 5 or 10 minute wait for suitcase to arrive on carousel, walked out of terminal, 10 minute wait for taxi. We were in Kos town about 1.5 hours after wheels hit the runway.

Return to Gatwick flight on Sat 11th June around 22.00 from Kos. Short 10 min check-in/bag drop Q. About 2 minute queue for security. Plane departed around 1/2 hour late. Arrived LGW approx. 00.15. No queue for passport machines, bags in baggage hall half hour after wheels hit the stand.

I think we had one of the better overall experiences of any travellers so far this summer.

[SamYeager]

Flew to Faro from BRS on 19 May in morning. Somewhat lengthy walk to passport area with very few people in front of me. Passport checked no issue and another person stamped the passport. Nobody asked to see my Covid pass. Coming back on 26 May no real queue for passport check and passport was stamped by another person. It was slightly confusing as the outward stamp was on a different page than the inbound stamp. Rather more of a queue at BRS for passports with baggage taking a while although not as excessive as others have experienced.

[ZFT]

Opposite direction but I arrived as a tourist at LHR T2 yesterday at 0720. No queues at non UK immigration, no baggage issues and was outside the terminal within 30 mins of landing!
Not what the media had lead me to expect. Getting away from Heathrow was another story.

[25F]

Went to Barcelona early April and Malaga beginning of May. In both cases a breeze.
However coming back to STN at midnight in May we found a huge queue for passport control. Easily over 45 minutes. A friend just came through Stansted late last night and reports the same sort of thing.

[PAXboy]

This could throw fat into the fire / cat among the pigeons / etc.
BA staff at LHR vote for strike action (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-61906236)

[davidjpowell]

Flew into Melbourne Florida in May.

Bit of a building site, but tidy and staff to point you in the right direction
10 Minutes for luggage
Plenty of immigration staff - no queue.
Airport staff greeted with a goody bag with snacks and a bottle of water.
Car hire in temporary AC tent. Temporary AC toilets.
In car 15 mins after arrival

Going the other way, no queue for check in. No queue for cheerful secutity. Free sandwich and water in departure lounge (flying economy with Tui)

90 minute drive to Orlando

[Flap Track 6]

I've been through Alicante a few times this year with no problems, usually quick and simple. This has been midweek flights, though.

Went to Madrid T1 from BRS two weeks ago and apart fron the 30 minute wait in the 'rest of world' queue behind a flight from Buenos Aries, it was straightforward. I was waived through the Covid checkpoint after a cursory glance at my vax record, which was a new experience - the Spanish have scanned the QR code before, and the health form previously when that was required.

If you're going to Spain, my experience is that they've got their act together and have done for some time.

[crewmeal]

What's the experience like departing LHR Terminal 2. I'll be flying to Cairo next month with Egyptair and the flight was over 3 hours late leaving yesterday (Sunday) even though it arrived into LHR on time.

[DaveReidUK]

What's the experience like departing LHR Terminal 2. I'll be flying to Cairo next month with Egyptair and the flight was over 3 hours late leaving yesterday (Sunday) even though it arrived into LHR on time.

I think you're mistaken.

Yesterday afternoon's CAI flight (MS778, STD 15:00) pushed at 15:45 and MS780 (STD 22:10) taxied at about 23:00.

[jolihokistix]

Incoming! Full plane from Far East. Arrived into Heathrow T4 last Thursday evening, no hold, straight down, short taxi, immediate debark, the passport machine worked on second swipe, and the luggage….

Didn’t appear. Cases came out in drubs and drabs and the conveyor belt kept getting switched off. No explanation, no information. As if the crew was rushing around from plane to plane unloading one container at a time. It took two hours for my second suitcase to appear.

Otherwise, no complaints apart from the £13 parking robbery.

[crewmeal]

I think you're mistaken.

Yesterday afternoon's CAI flight (MS778, STD 15:00) pushed at 15:45 and MS780 (STD 22:10) taxied at about 23:00
My mistake should have been 25th June.

25 Jun 2022 London (LHR) (https://www.flightradar24.com/data/airports/lhr) Cairo (CAI) (https://www.flightradar24.com/data/airports/cai) B77W (SU-GDP) (https://www.flightradar24.com/data/aircraft/su-gdp) 4:11 15:00 18:04 20:40
Landed 23:15

[Mr Mac]

Well outbound this evening from Palma to Munich with LH . I should have flown Tuesday but picked up a cold so checked for COVID but stayed on with 4 women in the house !! About 15min down at push but early arrival Munich. However some mighty big thunderstorms over France and Germany. The delay in terminal were minimal. Will report back on Mrs Mac return who will know doubt be partying in Deia as I type, with 3 girlfriends, who will all come through Manchester with Jet 2.

Cheers
Mr Mac

[PAXboy]

Wednesday evening, 29th.
Friends arrived STN. Their FR was late at MAD and they missed departure slot. Arrived right at end of day with several other flights. They had to queue to get to the immigration queue Altogther 45 mins just to get to the gate - which then refused one of them and sent to side queue which took even longer. They were glad that they had only hand luggage.

Friday afternoon, 1st July.
Collecting family at LHR T5 (also from MAD) They said that MAD was FULL and had to queue a long time for bag drop and the terminal was heaving, no time to go to the lounge.
Flight arrived within 10 mins of due time. The sailed through the family line of immigration.
Baggage ... I can confirm that the baggage problem is as bad as reported.

The bags arrived on two belts, so they had to watch carefully (along with all the others from the A320) and keep their baby happy.
After waiting for over an hour they were still waiting for two bags (they had been away for a month) and so mum came on through so that she could get to car to feed baby and another 15 mins later dad emerged with no bags as they were lost. He was given a lovely leaftlet on how to report.

He has asked for my help in crafting the letter to BA and I shall enjoy that. Part of that is that the on board meal (Row A in Club) was delivered BEFORE the drinks. In my experience, the food usually arrives long after the drinks.

[Ignore the HUD]

Travelled Milan to Edinburgh last week with Easy. Boarding buses at Milan turned into a farce, people were kept so long waiting to drive to the aircraft they got off and started to berate the ground staff. Got on the aircraft and told we had a 2 hour slot delay. Apparently there was an issue offloading wheelchair passengers from the incoming flight. Slot delay was not Improved unfortunately . EDI passport control was totally overloaded as so was the baggage hall. People were climbing on the conveyor belt and into the tunnel to search for luggage. Was a Journey i Hope not to repeat again…..

[Peter47]

All a bit of a lottery.
Geneva in April absolutely fine, very short queue at immigaration. (Departure from Zurich was fine early morning but horrendous at peak time).
Amsterdam 20 minute wait at immigration. Outbound (off-peak) 1 hour to go through security & immigartion but I heard a passenger complaining about two hour queues. I attived more than four hours before departure. The automated barrier wouldn't let me throuhgh but a kind lady let me through. (Really appreciated! No congestion airside but a bit grim landside.) However the airport seemed quiet on a Tuesday evening.
Heathrow arrivals - T2 20 minutes in April.
T3 a couple of weeks ago at 21:00. Gate available. We had to wait for a marshaller then a 15 minutes delay as the jetty would,t go on. I don't know if this was because we were in a KLM Embraer and the gates weren't designed for such a small aircraft. No queue at immigration at 21:30.
Moral, try and travel at quiet times if possible (which it often isn't).

[PAXboy]

When standing in LHR T5 arrivals last Friday, waiting for family waiting for baggage - I thought: In March when this problem started to surface, someone in the airport should have thought about recruiting students for the summer. Whilst it is understandabale that the cost of recruitment and approvals for ramp working take time and are not cheap BUT the cost of all these canx flights? The terrible publicity? I know they are thinking they want to get back to normal with full time staff - but that might not be the best strategy at the moment.

I sit to be corrected.

[Asturias56]

Friend checking in at LHR today - breakdown of baggage belts at checkin = 2.5 hour "experience"

[SpringHeeledJack]

It just all seems too coincidental in the last months. I realise that things happen, breakdowns occur, sickness occurs causing staff shortages and so on, but somehow it just seems too many happenings for it to be random.

[Asturias56]

Easy t o fire people - only takes a day or so - but they all forgot it takes 3 months to hire and train people

[PAXboy]

Probably 99% of companies in the UK had no experience of what a pandemic can do. There was a fairly consistent view that it would soon be over. Having read something of previous pandemics, I am not surprised it is still a problem.

However, there was no intimation that so many people would want to change job and/or lifestyle, if an opportunity presented itself.

Coupled with Brexit, it made a terrible combination.

[PAXboy]

This also references LH out of FRA.

LHR caps departing passenger numbers (https://uk.yahoo.com/news/heathrow-airport-caps-daily-passengers-101613743.html)


Heathrow Airport announced it has introduced a cap of 100,000 daily departing passengers until 11 September as Britain's aviation industry struggles to cope with the post-pandemic demand for travel.

[Mr Mac]

Probably 99% of companies in the UK had no experience of what a pandemic can do. There was a fairly consistent view that it would soon be over. Having read something of previous pandemics, I am not surprised it is still a problem.

However, there was no intimation that so many people would want to change job and/or lifestyle, if an opportunity presented itself.

Coupled with Brexit, it made a terrible combination.
Paxboy
I did SARS in Hong Kong and as soon as this kicked off I worked on an 18 month minimum time scale for us personally and indeed my company. 18 month proved to slightly shorter than reality, but a very good basis and we and company got ahead of the game. Interestingly when I mentioned this experience to my local Tory MP I was given short shrift 2.5 years ago.
Cheers
Mr Mac

[PAXboy]

Looks like this report belongs in this thread:

Global lost luggage crisis mounts (https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2022/jul/20/global-lost-luggage-crisis-mounts)

[Dave Gittins]

Great news piece from the Mail, headlined by a photo over a month old.

Panorama last night was no more informative, mostly being shot at LCY where I doubt there is a holiday flight to be had.

Nothing new said other than the comment that in the recent very widely publicised series of late cancellations, 97% of flights got away against a normal good day pre pandemic when 1-2% cancellations could be expected.

Yes some very sad stories indeed but something bad is always going to happen when the numbers of annual travellers probably amounts to double the number of the population in any year. No media ever thrived on good news.

[PAXboy]

Mr Mac. Agreed. My work these days is alongside the funeral trade. When SARS/MERS arrived 2002/03, there was lot of information in the trade as to what would happen if it took off in the UK. By the time Covid arrived? All that information was lost. As far as I could see, the people in charge of the trade organisations and in the large UK funeral companies - had all moved on, mostly through retirement. The new folks in charge did not seem to have that information. I remembered it ...

Thus both the funeral trade and the crematoria and cemeteries, had to learn from scratch. But history always repeats itself and the warnings were plain to see. The big change here was that the jet engine spread the virus a lot faster than most people could imagine. When it was brewing in Jan/Feb 2020, I was of the view that this could be 'the big one' and said so. But I am not in a position to influence the trade.

The only surprise for me was just how many people would ignore rules and vaccination - and still do. The subsequent high death toll is far beyond what I had guessed at when lock down started. I have some serious horror stories from beareaved families and my colleagues in those trades.

[PAXboy]

I don't know that this tells us anything we did not already know with all saying they are doing their best and others must shoulder blame too... However, at the end of the article one pilot who is taking a break says what we all know here in PPRuNe and have done for decades:
... his biggest criticism lies with the drive for low prices and big profits where "everything gets cut to the bone and during unusual times it will mean system breakdown".

BBC Airport Workers on the staffing problem (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-62169701)

[Asturias56]

everyone knows this and everyone still looks for the lowest possible airfare and complains bitterly (on here as well) about high costs:(

[Helol]

JNB - LHR 6 June T3. First of the long hauls to arrive. Needless to say, through passport control in a few minutes, and bags ready in about 10 minutes. That said, my LUX-LHR BA flight for 30 Aug has been canx. Decided not to even attempt any short haul flights until later in the year.

[S.o.S.]

Well said Asturias56 I have noticed in many areas the pricing model of a well known LCC, pricing low to catch the 'eyeball' and then adding everything afterwards. This is now so well established over the last 30 years that generations are growing up understanding it.. I find myself moving swiftly to 'grumpy old man', but Mrs S.o.S. says that happened a long time ago ...

[Asturias56]

Regretfully it has become a standard model in all corners of the business and official world - along with just-in-time.

Anyone who asks about backup, redundancy, and risk is shown the door very quickly these days

[PAXboy]

I was in telecommunications for 27 years and I saw this trend start in about 1989, as I was working for an American merchant bank. Following the recession of 90/91, then throughout the 90s, there was a steady cut back of investment, with an increase in outsourcing. Equipment had become so reliable and easier to use that it was taken for granted.

You still get folks saying, "My laptop/mobile died/was stolen and I've lost all my work"

[Asturias56]

"You still get folks saying, "My laptop/mobile died/was stolen and I've lost all my work""

I think I can count on teh fingers of one hand the number of people I know who back up their laptops at all

[Saintsman]

Just done Gatwick to Paphos with EasyJet. Check-in was a bit busy, but the queues were well organised and we soon got through. Paphos was a breeze.

Coming back, no issues at both ends. I've had longer delays pre-Covid.

Both journeys were delayed departing due to ATC flow restrictions over Europe, but not something to get too upset about.

As an aside, at Gatwick, we moved off the gate and then parked up for an hour. The captain welcomed any kids to visit the flight deck whilst we waited. The cabin crew let one of them announce over the PA, that we were ready to go and to return to our seats. Nice touches.

[WHBM]

Flew into ... Jersey. Absolutely straightforward. Staff said the issues were all at the origin airports, not with them, so problematic when inbound carriers arrive hours late - the day starts off ok, but by the second and third rotation carriers are becoming significantly late. Certainly on returning, checking in an hour before departure there were three BA staff on the desks, and just us on the other side. I suggested there were openings for them at Heathrow, which was, of course, treated with feigned horror :)

Elsewhere on the island it was apparent that shortage of staff was a key issue, places on short hours, long waits, (very) inexperienced staff, etc. And a bit of a "couldn't care less" attitude creeping in among those there, probably from a combination of circumstances.

[Asturias56]

Everywhere I've been worldwide for the last 8 months everyone in the "service industries" is screaming for staff. Years of bad treatment, lousy conditions , poor pay coming home to roost I'm pleased to say

[Mr Mac]

Back to Palma for a wedding with Jet 2 from Leeds. Leeds Bradford needs a new terminal, very hot and crowded yesterday afternoon. We used Runway lounge which was ok to get away from crowds,but not a very good lounge with little ice or fruit and good not great. But flight fine with slight diversion near Perpignan due to Storms. Got through Palma in 40 min but took same time to get rental car as Gold Car very very busy with each rep doing around 30 - 40 cars per day normal is 10-20. Very warm down here in comparison to the wet and muggy northern UK.

Thankfully it is European ( my PA and her partner)wedding, so no morning suits !! Her parents have a house here and this is where she wanted to get married rather than Bavaria.

Cheers
Mr Mac

[Mr Mac]

Back in Palma, and did car drop to clear security and into lounge in 30min. Inbound was 20min though car pickup took 39 min as very busy. I think the flight issues being reported do seem to be Man and LHR based.

Cheers
Mr Mac

[paulc]

Departed from T3 at LHR 17 july, allowed plenty of time and was through airside in 15 mins. Plane then went tech so 5 hour delay and missed connection in the usa. Returned to Lhr 2 Aug and no problems. Was 45 mins from landing to being at the central bus station.

[Asturias56]

CDG Tuesday Long haul Business 45 minutes from taxi to airside with priority throughout. Very busy but moving steadily. Biggest problem at Security where sensors seemed to be picking up EVERYTHING - guy ahead of me had belt, shoes, pen, wallet (??) watch - and it was still going off after a pat down search, a going over with a wand and the swab test - plus the usual idiots who had packed a whole cosmetic collection deep in their hand luggage

[PAXboy]

Heathrow Airport extends cap on passengers to end of October
Not sure how many carriers are going to respond to this.
BBC (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-62550600)

[TCU]

Arrived LHR 26/7 from DXB. Was at my hire car venue in Virginia Water 1hr 15mins after landing

Departed LHR 13/8 to DXB. Really no fuss at all, with EK check-in busy but functional, security 15 minutes at most and gate boarding well staffed

All felt pretty "normal"

[redsnail]

Arrived at Biggin Hill. Offloaded the pax and their luggage. Colleague wanders over to the company Latitude to say hi. It's his swansong tour before retirement. He wanders back, tells me to get off our aircraft and get on the Latitude. It's going to Luton, my Gateway.

I load my bags onto the aircraft. Board the aircraft and off we go to Luton. Happily and unsurprisingly, my bags were there on arrival. The captain helped me get my bags and I waved good bye and walked to the car park. :) From park brake set to my car's park brake set at home, maybe 30 minutes.

Yes, it's not the airline experience but oooh boy, it beat airlining or a taxi around the M25....

[25F]

FWIW: flew to Reus last week as our usual Barcelona flight was cancelled (industrial action). On deplaning we were held on the tarmac to allow a couple of hundred people from another flight get past first. Passport control swift, and then on to the Covid queue where we told to get out QR codes ready. Then we walked past a handful of Guardia Civil who weren't doing anything at all, let alone checking QR codes, and that was that.
Then a taxi to the AVE station - no public transport from an international airport to a mainline railway station a few miles away!? (Camp de Tarragona is nuts - four platforms and four through lines? It's in the middle of nowhere).
Return to Stansted from Barcelona. No trolley service, just occasional forays to collect rubbish. I enquired if I could buy anything - "oh yes, just not alcohol". "Why?". "We're on strike". So not being able to have a glass of red to go with my "bocadillo" and "tortilla" was a shame but it saved me a few quid and it was *really* nice not having the crew hawking scratch cards and duty-free.
Stansted passport control amazingly quick and then a taxi home - no trains, because, again, a strike.

[Blues&twos]

Arrival at Calgary, Canada at the start of August was very straightforward.
No crowds, we collected our baggage almost immediately after getting to the reclaim area and the security staff were helpful and cheerful(!) Getting out of the airport and onto our transfer coach was a doddle.

[PAXboy]

British Airways axes 10,000 more flights to and from Heathrow
The carrier’s decision to shrink its short-haul timetable by 8% comes after the London airport extended the summer’s 100,000 daily cap on passenger numbers by another six weeks until the end of October and asked airlines to sell fewer flights.

The Guardian (https://www.theguardian.com/business/2022/aug/22/british-airways-axes-10000-more-flights-to-and-from-heathrow)

[chrissw]

I'm not sure if Sofia Bulgaria counts as a "tourist" airport but this was our experience (my OH and me).

Route was LHRT2-ZRH-SOF and SOF-MUC-LHRT2 Swiss/Lufthansa. Fortunately in business class.

8 Aug LHRT2 at about 0430 BST: long queues for economy check-in. Business check in an absolute breeze however. BUT fast track security had a sign saying closed until 0500. Someone in the queue waiting for it to open said he had been told it would open at 0445; that did not happen, though while we were waiting before we decided to give up, the previously long security queue had reduced by a lot so we just went there instead. It took no more than 15 minutes, but the staff were telling everyone to just leave everything in their bags including laptops etc.

ZRH was fairly busy but no problems at all. (Except that the terminal D lounge was closed, which we didn't know about, but that a #firstworldproblem).

SOF terminal 2 seemed no busier than normal for the summer. We got our bags within 15 minutes of leaving the plane. And for the first time ever the priority tags seemed to have an effect!

Return on 16 Aug:

SOF everything worked really well, which was again a first. There is no fast track security but it was mercifully short anyway. (Only one lounge is open at SOF due to "renovations," the Plaza Premium lounge, which isn't fantastic but is still better than hanging round the airport).

MUC: seemed busy but no issues. With a 5+ hour wait we were grateful for the lounge.

LHR T2: again busy but passport control moving people through quickly. Had to wait 35 minutes to get our bags. Other than than, no problems. I noted that there were quite a lot of bags hanging around the belts with no apparent owners.

[WHBM]

8 Aug LHRT2 at about 0430 BST: long queues for economy check-in. Business check in an absolute breeze however. BUT fast track security had a sign saying closed until 0500. Someone in the queue waiting for it to open said he had been told it would open at 0445; that did not happen, though while we were waiting before we decided to give up, the previously long security queue had reduced by a lot so we just went there instead. It took no more than 15 minutes, but the staff were telling everyone to just leave everything in their bags including laptops etc.
One of the issues is that, with stories of taking two or more hours to get through security (and equally of carriers going for on time departures closing the door and going, leaving them behind), passengers for the first wave flights are turning up way earlier than previously. Possibly including yourself. However, the pay agreements for security staff, certainly at one airport, are that for report times before 06.00 you are paid night rate. For the complete shift. So there is still minimal staffing of security before 06.00, just one station open (if at all) by which time huge queues form.

I believe that at London City, where the terminal building is closed overnight and opens the front door at 04.45, significant queues for the first wave have sometimes formed there in the dark outside. Once let in, security and concessions still not open.

[PAXboy]

Whatever the BA cut backs, they continue to email me once or twice a week to encourgae me to book.

[Mr Mac]

PAXboy
I think given their cancellation of Manchester shuttles so frequantl neither I or anyone I know will fly BA again from the North of the UK unless done on points. Everyone I know in business either uses loco or KLM,LH,AF,SAS,FIN or the various mid east and far east carriers for East bound and Virgin / Air Lingus going West if none stop, otherwise into Europe and back over UK .
Cheers
Mr Mac

[PAXboy]

At LHR T5 this morning to meet. Flight on time, baggage slow. Overall, terminal was quiet. Parked very close to one set of lifts - both out of order and had to walk further. Attendant told me that they had been out of order for a week.

[Expatrick]

Sister (resident in Australia) flew LBA to Belfast, 8 weeks ago.
Her baggage was lost (but not her Husband's), still no sign of it but more importantly absolutely no response to the various contacts she has initiated, nothing at all.

[UV]

LGW
Wanted to use a trolley to transport baggage. All chained up.
Eventually got one loose ...but it needed a £1 coin.
Who travels from Asia with a £1 coin in their pocket?
How many foreigners have one on them???
Welcome to the UK (not)

[ZFT]

That's worrying. I can't recall ever seeing pay for trolleys airside before.

[Squawk 6042]

LGW
Wanted to use a trolley to transport baggage. All chained up.
Eventually got one loose ...but it needed a £1 coin.
Who travels from Asia with a £1 coin in their pocket?
How many foreigners have one on them???
Welcome to the UK (not)

Was the same in Manchester, I remember a bemused lady off the Hong Kong flight asking me what to do. All I could say was 'Welcome to the UK' and, sotto voce, 'terms and conditions apply'.

[Sygyzy]

At a well known island holiday destination in the Eastern Med they charge €2 for an airside trolley. A UK 2p piece is the same diameter and thickness, or so I'm told...

Surely there is an equivalence in Far East/World currency that equates to a £1 coin so as to reduce the huge profits that Man Airport Inc hope to make from this swindle.

S

[Paul Lupp]

A bit late to this thread for various reasons....
brother-in-law flew in from Madrid (where he lives) to Heathrow on 19 July with BA. Flight was a little late; 90 minutes from plane "docking" at T5 until the luggage appeared on the belt. He was supposed to be flying with hand luggage only but when he checked in at Madrid he was told his case would have to be checked in, not sure if that was because of its weight or that they thought the overhead lockers would be full. Whatever, it meant I wasted 90 minutes of my life I won't get back and had to pay an exorbitant amount for the car park.

I'm hoping to fly to Germany next month; Heathrow parking charges seem to have all-but-doubled compared to the last time I flew in Aug 2020, and that was booking some weeks ago too.
Rip-off Britain is back......

[Asturias56]

Cdg t2 thus morning 4 passport checks open out of12 for all nationalities incl nationals

plus 60minutes

0900 2 more agents appeared so starting to move.

baggage hall looks like dunkirk beach 1940

[SimonPaddo]

Fun fact:

MLA to LGW 2:53 (well done SmartLynx 15 mins ahead of schedule, but please carry enough ice on your flights for the G&T) - 2430km
From aircraft exit to Farnborough 2:15, courtesy of 1/2 marathon walk to passport control, e-gate failure to read passport (successfully done many times previously) resulting in 30 min wait for ONE, yes ONE Borderfarce officer to check it and confess no reason for e-gate rejection, bus to long term carpark another 25 mins and finally Highways England sneakily rebuilding most of the Southern section of the M25 to really provide a good welcome home - 46km. Redhill looks nice by night though!

[redsnail]

Last Sunday at EHAM/AMS. Arrived about 2.2 hours to go before departure for a KLM flight to EGLL/LHR. (6pm-ish)
Already electronically checked in but needed to check the bag. Website says to be at the airport 4 hours before departure but that was tricky for me as I was in Northolt.
Any way, bag check took 1 hour 20 minutes.
When I arrived at the Terminal, the queue for security screening was out the building and just at the tents. Yes, there are a row of marques for shelter for the passengers waiting to be screened.
I don't know how long it was after checking the bag as I nipped over to the Crew Centre and was through screening in seconds. I dare say if I had to go through the normal screening I would have missed my flight home.

[bobward]

Just back from a short holiday in northern Italy. Flew NWI to Bergamo. We now have to report three hours before departing. The flight was an hour late departing - 'late arrival of the inbound aircraft'.
Arrival at Bergamo c 2100 local was not too bad. Whilst there were queues at Immigration, we non-EU-ers got through pretty quickly and no hassle from the security staff.
Where it fell apart was when we got into the arrivals hall and tried to find the tour rep. Eventually, we got on a coach and left at 2200, for a 2 1/2 trip to our hotel on Lake Garda.

Apart from this, everything else went pretty well, and the return flight home left on time. Looks as if things are starting to get back to normal,

[PAXboy]

LTN outbound, Wed 19th 06:00 dpt. My first time through since Covid and not that impressed. Fairly crowded but it all worked. AGP was still working under capacity and that was OK.

AGP Monday 24th was fine, although internal signposting not as helpful as it could be. LTN on return showed that they have not improved. As overcrowded as it was for my last time through in August 2018. The baggage info screen said that the bags would arrive after a delay of 30 mins. We were just wondering whether to go and find a vending machine, when one of our group spotted that our cases had arrived within 5 mins, i.e. normal amount of time. He fought his way through the scrum to get them.

[AeroSpark]

Just returned from a short break in Marakech with TUI. LGW going out all very nice and easy, except for 45 min delay due to some idiot having his bag taken off, searched and something removed. He was then offloaded along with his very unhappy looking mrs! RAK on the other hand was a nightmare going in and out. Over an hour just at passport control both ways. 90 min delay at the gate with no information from the worlds most disinterested staff other than 'technical problem' and a shrug of the shoulders. Eventually got going, however very bad weather at LGW meant we tried one very bumpy approach before giving up and going to Birmingham instead, where we then had another 2+ hour wait for coaches back to LGW. I wrote it off as one of those things that happens and at the end of the day we're still alive but got an email from TUI yesterday apologising for the mess up and giving up a £200 per person voucher towards another holiday, fair play to them they didn't have to do that, particularly as I hadn't even complained, I will be thinking very long and hard whether to ever go back to Marrakech though.

[redsnail]

Good to see nothing's changed at Marrakech. It was like that a few years ago.

[PAXboy]

Departing LHR T5 last Saturday, found much quieter than expected. I got into the terminal just after 18:00 and no crowds at all. Security was a doddle.

[edi_local]

Good to see nothing's changed at Marrakech. It was like that a few years ago.

Just returned from a short break in Marakech with TUI. LGW going out all very nice and easy, except for 45 min delay due to some idiot having his bag taken off, searched and something removed. He was then offloaded along with his very unhappy looking mrs! RAK on the other hand was a nightmare going in and out. Over an hour just at passport control both ways. 90 min delay at the gate with no information from the worlds most disinterested staff other than 'technical problem' and a shrug of the shoulders. Eventually got going, however very bad weather at LGW meant we tried one very bumpy approach before giving up and going to Birmingham instead, where we then had another 2+ hour wait for coaches back to LGW. I wrote it off as one of those things that happens and at the end of the day we're still alive but got an email from TUI yesterday apologising for the mess up and giving up a £200 per person voucher towards another holiday, fair play to them they didn't have to do that, particularly as I hadn't even complained, I will be thinking very long and hard whether to ever go back to Marrakech though.

RAK was exactly the same when I went in early June. My FR 737 was the only international flight arrival at the time and while they were still doing some covid checks, they were very basic (Staff members just standing around collecting health declarations and nothing else) and that part took no time at all. It was when we entered the immigration hall that it all fell apart. After waiting a good 45 minutes to get to the front of the queue, several people, myself included got told to stand aside after our passports were scanned. No explanation was given, then after about 10 minutes we were led aside and made to line up outside a booth marked "Police". A sole, very bored looking, police officer sat inside staring at a computer screen. After about half an hour with absolutely no explanation (none of us knew each other by the way), we were called in one by one, asked our names, and then with no other questions, the passports were stamped and we were on our way. Complete waste of time and very frustrating. On the way back I was questioned about my name again. I didn't really know what to say other than yes, the name on my passport was mine, hence why it is on my passport! Another few minutes passed and the officer chatted in Arabic to his colleague and then I was asked by the other one if I was sure that was my name (!) and once I confirmed again and asked if they needed any other proof, they stamped my passport and let me go! Bizzare!

[SpringHeeledJack]

Maybe your surname (phonetically) sounds like a rude word in Arabic ? As you say, unusual and a waste of everyone's time!

[Asturias56]

I have a US colleague who kept being pulled out and forced to sit in windowless rooms when travelling over several years

eventually he complained to someone when he was let out (again) and was told - "you do realise you have exactly the same name as a well known Italian American "entrepreneur" from New York don't you?" eventually said alter-ego went down for 20 years and my colleague stopped being stopped.

[PAXboy]

Someone I know posted this today:
If you are flying out of Heathrow Terminal 5, it’s a **** show. Heathrow, you should be ashamed. What a nice message you send to all our foreign guests.

Two hours and still not at bag check. Half a dozen machines unmanned. I bet they will blame the snow.

[S.o.S.]

Friends were going out LHR + BA to Spain today. They were dropped off at T5, and their mum got back on the M25. At the check-in they discovered they had not looked closely enough and the flight was from T3....

She returned, so that was another £5 and then took them to T3 and that was another £5. = Ouch. They said everyone helpful (they have a one year old baby) and place not too crowded.

[paulc]

Flew out of T4 at Lhr on 18th Dec on Kuwait Airways to Manila (should have been 15th Dec on Lh from Lcy to Fra etc but the first leg got cancelled so missed all the subsequent connections. Rebooked 3 days later on Kuwait Airways). The line for security was almost out the door and was painfully slow to get through. Arrival back to T2 (lh from Frankfurt) 7th Jan was much quicker, landed10.03, no queue at e-gates and made my 11am coach home.

[Gargleblaster]

I have had an excellent arrival experience in both Stockholm, Toronto, Lisbon, Keflavík and Copenhagen in 2022 !

[S.o.S.]

Thank you for that Pangalactic report, Gargleblaster.... :E

[redsnail]

Entering Miami was a breeze. However, I have Global Entry and didn't check my bag.
Leaving San Francisco was also a breeze. Global Entry gives you TSA Precheck. Best thing ever.

Arriving into LHR T3, again, very easy. Admittedly, I'd clocked the other inbound aircraft and wasted no time faffing around/dawdling. Having the priviledge of being in Virgin Upper class meant I was off before most of the passengers. The e-gates were working well and again, no checked bag meant I was out of the place in minutes.