Passenger Assistance - comparison of airports

[notlangley]

Last November we decided to indulge ourselves and fly Business Class to Australia._ It was a big mistake._ Or probably our mistake was choosing Thai Airways._ We had entré to the Heathrow business lounge and could help ourselves to entrées and coffee and wine - all gratis._ When we entered the lounge we were asked if we needed a buggy to take us to the gate - and at 40 minutes before take-off the receptionist presented herself to us to announce that our buggy awaits._ But at Bangkok there was no buggy._ The Business Lounge at Bangkok was excellent._ But there is not a buggy system._ Bangkok is of course a hub for Thai Airways which meant that we walked more than two kilometres to get to the gate for our next flight._ On our long walk (with frequent collapses made difficult because there are virtually no seats along the 2 kilometre walk) we saw no buggies.

In Melbourne a friend whose judgement we respect told us that there were buggies in Bangkok airport._ Bangkok is enormous and has satellite terminals that reach out like gargantuan octopus legs, so I can only suppose that one or two of the "octopus legs" of this airport are different._ There must have been pressure from top airlines on the airport._ I presume that a few of these octopus-legs were designed for buggies and that aircraft stands in these buggy-served areas are at a premium (all guesses on my part)._ My theory is that Thai Airlines cannot afford to pay premium fees, and does it on the cheap._ All that is invention on my part, all I know is that in the business lounge we were told very clearly that there are no buggies in the airport (which I guess is a simple way of covering up the problem).

Clearly we had to overcome the disability of the Thai Airline Business Ticket and so on our return I telephoned beforehand and ordered two wheelchairs._ This worked very well at Tullamarine and at Bangkok._ The provision of wheelchairs and buggies is not done by either the airport or airlines - there are separate companies that provide this service (presumably being paid by the airport who would no doubt cover this by the rates that Airlines are charged for using the airport)._ The system at Tullamarine is very good, I made no notes and cannot remember much except that the wheelchair pushers (one per chair) were very friendly. Jokes in an Airport are strictly taboo, but the atmosphere was so relaxed that I asked my pusher if she knew the difference between a British Airways Stewardess and a supermarket trolley - and when she said that she did not know I explained that a supermarket trolley has a mind of its own (that was a topical joke when the cabin crew were continually threatening to strike)._ My Ozzy pusher was so tickled by this anti-British joke that she repeated the lines to her companions as our procession continued its majestic way._ I remembered quite a lot of this first experience and this was why I was so critical of what was provided at Heathrow._ But first we had the delightful experience in Bangkok - thrilling and slightly unnerving - of our two attendants racing each other - running and pushing us this way and that way oh so fast._ Apart from this one criticism the wheelchair service at Bangkok was very good (we did not see any buggies).

How disorganised is Heathrow wheelchair service in Terminal 3!_ It is a disgrace._ The only thing that I could think was that all the capable attendants were in the new terminal - Terminal 5._ We waited a long time for wheelchairs and then were taken a short distance and de-seated._ Getting on and getting off the wheelchairs was quite difficult because the chairs kept rolling around as you get on (or off) - the trick we were told was to get on sideways and then pull the chair arm down._ At the place where we got off there were two other elderly passengers and a two more wheelchairs._ This place was manned by a woman who had a desk and a phone and she and our chaps argued for some time._ After some time a buggy came and the driver folded up the four wheelchairs, loaded them onto the buggy and drove off._ We four passengers sat there like cabbages._ The thing about cabbages is that no-one wastes their time speaking to cabbages._ I had no jokes to tell._ Eventually a buggy came and although none of us had baggage to collect we were deposited in the baggage hall - that being the standard way of doing things.

We used Terminal 5 of Heathrow last month in order to fly to JFK New York._ I had booked wheelchairs on British Airways intelligently designed website, but unfortunately the check-in lady had no record of this._ She summoned a couple of wheelchairs and we were taken by wheelchair to the holding point in the air-side of Terminal 5._ Although Terminal 5 is spacious with plenty of potential for the future increase of passengers, this does not apply to the waiting room for wheelchair passengers._ Presumably the "passenger assistance" manager or managers are paid good money and attend the planning meetings that negotiate available facilities._ They must be awful managers who say nothing and smile and nod and agree without thinking or understanding._ They don’t organise the staff who are trying to make do with bad planning and poor training._ A passenger has to be agile and quick witted to get onto a wheelchair without it running away._ Because the waiting room was full, we were told to sit in the public area and we were told that we would be fetched when the time came._ When I considered that it was about time they did something and I enquired at the desk (of course a different person) I was rebuked for not coming earlier.

What a contrast is JFK._ They do more than do the job._ At JFK the wheelchairs were waiting for us with our names known, and we had the novelty of one man pushing both wheelchairs simultaneously._ He worked hard because he was putting on and taking off the handbrake of the wheelchair whenever needed. In next to no time we were wheeled to the front of the taxi queue outside._ No nonsense about the journey ends in the baggage hall._ Our return journey was even better._ At JFK we had put on our jackets and looked smart and spoke politely and intelligently with English accents and were therefore taken to the First Class Lounge despite only having World Traveller Boarding Passes._ After we had indulged in free wine and snacks the chap came back and single handedly flipped hand brakes and took us right to the departure point._ I gave this marvellous chap a $20 tip (passed from my palm to his palm)._ Later on as we sat at the gate, the call was made for (my name) to put up his hand, the British Airways lady asked if we wanted assistance and I assured her that we were ok to walk down the covered ramp.

We were confidently told on the plane to Heathrow to wait until everyone got off and then the wheelchairs would be waiting._ Actually the wheelchairs weren’t there, and the friendly hostess was clearly trying to make plans as to how to cope with this challenge as all her colleagues came striding out of the empty plane._ Then to her great relief two wheelchairs and two attendants appeared at the far end of the ramp._ We were told to walk up the ramp to the chairs._ There were three of us - with different walking speeds._ The two attendants faced up to the awfulness of their job._ There were three of us, because the other five "needing-assistance" passengers had given up waiting and had decided to walk._ There was argument about why there were only three of us and how to manage the few that did have - and after some long discussion the stamina of one attendant defeated the other._ The third passenger (a frail old lady) was put in one of the chairs and was taken away._ After a while a buggy came, the spare chair was folded up and put in the front seat, we climbed into the back seats and met up with the third passenger at Customs where a new temporary pen nearly prevented the buggy getting through._ The employees were outraged at this unnecessary impediment._ The driver of the buggy was a morose chap who clearly found no job satisfaction._ He put us down in the baggage hall and he drove away to cope with his next problem.

How can such a badly managed organisation be transformed?_ It is beyond me._ It is particularly sad that some of the pushers will have the wisdom and understanding to know how the operations should be organised._ But their advice will not be sought by the incompetent management that is running the passenger assistance organisation.

In the dim past we have encountered dim airlines._ A Crimea bound aircraft with insufficient seat belts to put round all the passengers - it was seriously suggested to one couple that the long belt on his left side could strap both of them in by using her right hand side belt - as this plane took off I glanced back and saw that most belts were unfastened and hung down into the gangway - one of the few ways that the proletariat of Soviet society could express its general dissatisfaction with authoritarianism._ An aircraft from London that landed in Moscow instead of Leningrad - and the pilot coming back to the door to ask the ground staff which airport he was at._ In Uzbekistan the Stewardesses chatting away and ignoring passengers while pigging themselves with food on a plane that served no food._ An aircraft where upon landing (at Tbilisi) we, the passengers, unloaded the hold, lifted up the perimeter barrier to let our coach come in to collect us and our baggage._ However that is all in the past._ There is today much more variation in competence in the field of passenger assistance than there is in airline competence._ On a scale of 1 to 10, my ranking of airports is as follows
JFK New York 11 points
Tullamarine 6-9 points (to be refined next month on our next flight to Melbourne)
Bangkok 7 points
Heathrow 4 points (bad management)

[TightSlot]

notlangley - I'd say for a start that the service is capable of being equally lousy in the other LHR terminals, and indeed at many other UK airports. I can't tell you why, but I can tell you that I have been in African Airports where there has been a higher standard of ground support visible, both technical and customer than in LHR, LHW, LTN, STN & BHX.

It seems to be how businesses are run in the UK these days - and in part, why Britain is doomed in the medium to long term.

God I sound gloomy!!!

[notlangley]

Occam's razor

I would suppose that the same company does LHR, LGW, LTN, STN & BHX.

[Betty girl]

No, I think they are all different companies. The ones in T5 now are an improvement on the company we use to have but as you say not satisfactory.

In the USA there is a lot of legislation with regard to the handling of passengers with disabilities and I think this is why the service is better.
Maybe you need to lobby your MP to get it to be the same, here in the UK.

I think it is a low paid job with little job satisfaction and maybe this is why the service is not good. We despair as crew daily with the service we see but it is just one company that gets awarded the contract by the airport authority and there is no way for an airline to use any other provider.

If there was a way of choosing another company and therefore a form of competition, maybe the service would improve.

All I can tell you Notlangley, is that as a crew member I see this on a daily basis. It is soul destroying to care for people for a long time on a flight and then witness them being miss-handled by the wheelchair company! I often see passengers being asked to walk up the jetty because the wheelchair operator finds it too hard to push up the slope!!

At LHR you need to write to the BAA because they are the company that gives out the wheelchair contract and is responsible. Also drop a line to BA customer relations because the staff that deal with these things at BA would be interested to hear your experience as it helps them to push for change. It is only when passengers write in and complain that anything will get done about this.

[notlangley]

gloomy!!!

Thank you TightSlot for your comments that are particularly helpful when placed against the very informative post by Betty girl.

It would seem that the PRM (Passengers with Reduced Mobility) service at LHR is provided by AirServ, who unless I am mistaken also sport the name OmniServ:-___link
AirServe evidently provides PRM service at LHR, LBA & MAN._ But they are essentially a USA firm and so it would seem that I should not blame AirServe but I should blame the UK culture which has forced this firm to cheapen its service in order to conform with what we Brits will accept.

[EyesFront]

I can only report one case of wheelchair use, but it's a positive one from when I took my disabled wife to Istanbul for a long weekend last December. We travelled BA and went from T5, the wheelchair was prebooked, we were expected and the system worked at both ends, in both directions. I travel a lot but my wife doesn't so I'd never thought much about the mobility service, but I was really quite impressed ...

[PAXboy]

I have only viewed this at one remove, when seeing my mother through airports with wheelchair/buggy assistance. Or, when she first needed a walking stick, just getting to the lift and making sure that she had an aisle seat. She no longer travels by air but, in the UK, this was: IOM, LTN, LCY, LHR, BRS and in South Africa at JNB.

The best was JNB but in the UK it was pot-luck. Here I would agree with TS and add that, in the UK, the kind of service you get is unpredictable. Since once can compare the airports run by BAAplc, once can see the enormous range of service offered. If LGW was great for you in May, it might be bad for you in June.

To drift slightly, but to explain why I think this: The same may be said of most services in the UK today. One branch of a shop may be good, another branch in another town, not so. You can never be sure what you are going to get - over the counter, at a lunch table, on the phone to customer services. Everyone has cut so far back that the cracks are now showing. I would say that there are very, very areas left when you can guarantee good service, reliable service, value for money service - every time.

To avoid Jet Blast territory I would say that this is ALSO the case for the many airlines we use. Just because you have had good service for ten years, does not mean that the next five trips are going to be as good. It is the way of the western world.

I sound gloomy!!!

[JWP1938]

Wife and I are elderly and our arthritis varies so sometimes we need help and sometimes not. About seven years ago we had a flight from Gatwick to Murcia. We requested the assistance to the gate and were told by the check-in desk to speak to the chap behind the desk in the Departure Lounge and he would arrange for us to go on the buggy. We did this and he said "If you don't turn up at this desk in a wheelchair or on crutches then, as far as I am concerned, you don't need assistance." He then turned to the next in line. I expect he got a few lazy ones but this was a bit much we thought. We were living in Spain at the time so didn't take it any further at the time and it was months later when we were next back in UK.

[ATNotts]

My mother and father joined us for a few days in Germany last October.

Having recently fallen, my mum was not walking so well, but managed to get on the FlyBe aircraft at BHX. On arrival at Dusseldorf we were awaiting their arrival at the alloted door, but were concerned that they were not coming through.

A scout around the land side area at arrivals saw my parents coming out of a different door, mum in wheelchair being pushed by a member of the airport staff. I was all for getting the car out of carpark 7 and bringing it to the pick-up area outside arrivals, but the staff member would have none of it. He cheerfully pushed her all the way to the car, helped her out of the chair and into the car, and seemed amazed I offered him a tip as thanks for what I consider to be going much further than the "extra mile" (literally and figuratively) to look after my mum.

I cannot imagine a similar level of (free) service at UK airports today.

[ExXB]

EC Regulation No 1107/2006 requires airports to provide assistance to Passengers with Reduced Mobility from the arrival at the airport (i.e. the Parking lot) to the aircraft and v.v. The airports pass on this cost to the airlines serving that airport. The airline is responsible for providing assistance on board the aircraft (such as wheelchair storage, assistance to (but not in) the lavatories, etc)

Of course the regulation only applies at airports in the EU (plus CH NO LI IS) not at airports such as Bangkok.

If this isn't happening at UK airports, then see the EC's web site here.

[Flyer70]

My wife and I flew from NCL to BUD with BA via LHR a few months ago. As my wife has mobility problems we required wheel chair assistance at LHR T5, this was booked through BA. A member of the cabin crew when we arrived at the gate in T5 knew exactly which seat my wife was in came and told her to wait until all the other passengers had disembark and that a wheelchair was waiting for her. We were escorted to a waiting area in T5, and when the gate was know for our onward flight escorted to the aircraft. The same on the return journey, this was a free service done with care and courtesy.

[Betty girl]

To be fair to the staff at T5, it can be very good sometimes as has been highlighted by Flyer70; it is only occasionally that it is not good and it is vastly better than it was a couple of years ago now that this new provider has taken over.

I do find it strange though when the passengers are asked to walk up the jetty because the staff member says it's too steep for them to push up. I think maybe the company should provide a few electric chairs for these steep jetties or choose staff that are able to do the job more effectively.

JWP, Your experience of the staff member saying that you only need assistance if you turn up in a chair or crutches is outrageous! How can that man know if you had a breathing problem or a heart condition etc. and could only manage short walks!

[Smeagol]

Let me put in some words of praise for the assistance at both Stansted and Luton.
Wife needs assistance to get through airports as arthritis makes walking difficult, painful and slow. Have used both the above airports quite often in recent years to a variety of destinations and have found the service to work well.

Staff at both locations have been pleasant and efficient.

These forums are more often used for hurling brickbats but thought praise should be recorded when deserved.

Must admit that we have not utilised these services at Heathrow, because I avoid the place if at all possible. Horrible airport in most respects.

[notlangley]

Names of PRM Companies - and names of actual Helpers

It would probably be useful to have in the public domain the names of companies that provide a service for "Passenger with Reduced Mobility" - which is usually abbreviated to PRM._ So for example, the praise that Smeagol has given to Stanstead is praise for the good works of MITIE Group PLC._ Smeagol also praises Luton, and interestingly this is also praise for MITIE Group PLC.

I have attempted to find the names of firms that provide PRM service._ It is exceptionally difficult to get this information._ This is the best that I could do._ It is not surprising that at least one journalist has produced an out-of-date name.
Heathrow - AirServ
Leeds - AirServ
Manchester - AirServ
Stanstead - MITIE Group PLC
Luton - MITIE Group PLC
Gatwick - G4S
Birmingham - OCS
East Midlands - OCS
Liverpool - OCS
Belfast - OCS
Many providers were changed last year because the service was put up for tender (typically a five year) at many airports._ Google produces a mix of old and new with the dates being undeclared._ Please post if the above information is wrong or out of date.

When I am in a wheelchair I cannot see my helper and so I cannot see whether or not the name of his firm is on his uniform, whether or not this name is obscured by a luminous yellow jacket or whether or not he/she wears a name-badge.

I believe that it ought to be a lot easier for passengers with reduced mobility to know names of "pushers" and their company._ But my opinions do not matter - what is much more important is how many other passengers think the same way as I do.

[Espada III]

What about babies!

Arrive in MAN with a young child and you want your buggy which has been put in the hold.

Oh No! No way!

Instead you carry the child through passport control and then wait at the conveyor for the buggy. Unlike in most other airports around the world where the buggy awaits you as you exit the aircraft.

I asked the CEO of MAN why and he effectively said it was down to the Unions and 'Elf & Safety!! What about my Health and Safety!

[Skipness One Echo]

The rarest thing in modern British life is good judgement.

[notlangley]

Because I own shares in British Airways I chose to fly Premium Economy BA7318 to Melbourne . It is slightly more expensive than QF 30 - which is the same plane - it is a Qantas plane . I could not choose seats on the Internet until 24 hours before take off . At 22:30 the day before the flight, the information on the BA website changed to
"Online check-in opens on 06 Sep 2011 22:50 local time".
Instead of waiting until September (this is called sarcasm) I decided to check-in at Heathrow on 5 July 2011 . We were there two and a half hours before take off . I decided to present the print-off of BA Manage My Booking to the check-in lady and I said diffidently that I thought it would be helpful for the BA computing department to see this print-off and therefore could she be so kind as to treat this as an official complaint . It took her a long time . Eventually she said
"I may have bad news for you"
I then produced another document from BA, my Itinerary that had the ticket numbers of my wife and me . The lady said
"Although we are code sharing, the computers of Qantas and British Airways are not yet passing information" (what a wonderful PR word is yet, holding out as it does a promise of a Utopian future when altruism reigns supreme).
She personally took us round to the Qantas Premium desk and explained the situation to the Qantas lady who easily checked us in and gave us good seats . At the passenger interface level Qantas and BA have truly excellent relations . We were issued with boarding cards to Hong Kong plus boarding cards for the HK to Melbourne leg . We were asked to wait in the First Class check-in area for our wheelchairs . After some time a check-in lady asked us what we were waiting for . I showed her a boarding card and she went into the computer and then telephoned someone . After quite a long time I decided she should make another call . She looked at the computer and said "you have been waiting three quarters of an hour, but it is no use my phoning them again because they are dealing with passengers on the basis of their flight departure times". So we waited an hour before two young men came for us.
Neither man had a name badge . My man was cross that the other man did not know his name . I asked him how long he had been doing this job . "A month" he said "and I am thinking of leaving" . His companion was probably even newer because he did not understand where the lift was, nor did he know that there were buttons to summon the lift . We were taken through scanning and passport control and on the air-side we were transferred to buggy . Since we faced backwards I was not able to talk to the driver . Quite near to our gate the buggy was stopped and the driver was told that the gate was closed . The driver apologized to us and parked the buggy and left us for 15 minutes and when he returned he drove us to an area where we were transferred to wheel chairs . My pusher was in her early 50's . In answer to my question she said that she had been doing this work for twelve years . "For the same company?" I innocently asked . "No five different companies" she said . That surprised me, I knew that Omniserv had obtained a five-year contract last year, so by my calculations I would have guessed that her 12 years would be within 4 contracts and not 5 . Later on I said to her "it is hard work for you!" to which her response was "Yes - they’re short of staff" . This is an interesting response because it indicates that she had been thinking or saying this previously . When she got us to our gate she immediately took us along the air-bridge to the boarding plane (I will still allow two and a half hours next time).


The passenger assistance at Hong Kong was excellent but is not relevant because the employment culture is so different to the Western World . The passenger assistance at Tullamarine was excellent . The supervisor met the plane and had a list of names and two wheelchairs folded up by her . She told us to go up the airbridge for the buggy . The supervisor waited at the plane door and in due course an attendant came down (saying hello to us as she passed us) and the two of them presumably helped the passengers in crutches to get into the wheelchair . A man called Christopher came to drive our buggy . At Tullamarine everyone has a badge - they all seem to have the same name "Mel" - but their first name and surname are printed clearly on the badge . He was friendly as is natural for many Australians and he asked us if we wanted to go all the way or be left at baggage . At baggage he asked us again in case we had changed our minds - we thanked him and we did the rest on foot.

So BAA Heathrow has awarded a five year contract to an American company trading as Omniserv . Now they can see that London buses compare unfavourably with New York buses so far as wheelchair passengers are concerned . The adaptation of buses is better in Manhattan, and the driver is more nimble and hardworking than his London equivalent . Wheelchair access to Underground trains in the North, North-West and West of London is an absolute disgrace - we still have two train sizes and even where a station has only one train size, the entry of a wheelchair to a tube-train is often impossible without the help of another passenger . UK Supermarket check-out ladies sit down - whereas in other countries they stand up and pack for the shopper . So what does the American company do with the contract with BAA? Well he could hire more labour and bring the quality up to a reasonable standard . But surely this will affect the balance-sheet and may even make the enterprise a loss-maker . And when the time comes to bid for the next contact does he bid at a price that reflects the labour that he employs? If he has sense he will leave things as they are, and not display labels that identify the name of this Atlanta-based company.

Change is always possible . Change needs pressure groups who should certainly start with the Underground to insist that the rest of London is uplifted to the standard of the South-east quarter of London . Passenger assistance at Heathrow needs to be to a better standard.

[Pilotinmydreams]

A comparison of service at airports is something I was thinking about earlier this week having seen two very different levels of service at two airports.

I departed from Luton and was behind a French couple in security. The security officer dealing with the line I was in was as rude a person as i've every seen to the poor French girl and ended up when challenged (very politely I have to say) 'If you have a problem you wpon't fly'. It was discraceful treatment of someone and ended up holding many other people (me included) up. I do have to say though that the woman dealing with the que of security next to me looked thouroughly embarressed by her colleague's behavious and was very polite to her customers.

Next, whilst waiting for my flight, I witnessed the most heavy handed baggage handler i've ever seen, literally throwing the luggage from the hold as hard as he could onto the waiting lorry. Both me and all the other passengers waiting for my EasyJet flight to Aberdeen were taken aback at how the incoming flights luggage was being mistreated - how any even slightly delicate items in the hold luggage managed to survive I don't know.

In contrast to that at Luton, I had a very pleasant chat to an Easyjet FO on my way from the carpark to the terminal - what a nice guy he was who clearly loves his job.

Aberdeen airport was a complete contrast. The people on duty there at security were very courteous and efficient. When asking to look through the woman's bag in front of me, she apologised for the inconvenience and explained why it was necessary. From my point of view she was extremely professional.

I understand that security people at airports may not necessarily be the best paid in the world and no doubt have to do a fairly stressful job at times but common courtesy as displayed in Aberdeen goes a very long way!

[notlangley]

Return journey - from Melbourne to London

At Tullamarine my boarding pass was handed directly to the wheelchair pusher . This is because the wheelchair person had arrived by the time that the check-in process had been completed . It was also a natural thing for the check-in lady to give my boarding pass to the pusher (and not to me) because the wheelchair pushers are employed by Qantas, the same company that employs the check-in person . It was a sprightly middle aged woman who pushed me . I asked her how long she had done the job . She said that she had been doing it for twenty years, ten years with Ansett and then when Qantas took over Ansett she automatically became a Qantas pusher . There was sadness in her voice - she obviously preferred her previous employer . At our arrival at the gate I thanked my pusher and said that I could walk the air-bridge.

The arrangement at Hong Kong was most impressive . While the plane was in the air, a flight attendant came to us to confirm the wheelchair requirement . We were told to remain seated until the other passengers had disembarked . When almost all of the passengers had disembarked we were approached by the flight attendant and told that the wheelchairs were ready . My wife and I are capable of walking up the air-bridge, but we do as we are told . I was pushed along the air-bridge by a Chinese man and my wife was pushed by a Chinese lady . As we left the air-bridge we passed a woman with a large white card which had three names written in letters approx two inches high - this was a surprise because the person said that there was a message for us - but actually it was the Hong Kong airport safety-net system to ensure that all passengers who ask for a wheelchair are catered for . The service that I received from my pusher was extemporary and so I tipped him, which meant that I also was obliged to tip the lady pushing my wife . My wife subsequently told me that the second tip was deserved . The third passenger who needed assistance was a walking passenger who had never flow before, she was about sixty years old and had quite understandably been anxious about how to get from A to B in a large airport.

The three of us were given assistance at Heathrow T3 . We were told to sit in our seats in the plane . We were then summoned and accompanied the wheel chair supervisor to the end of the air-bridge (my wife and I are perfectly capable of walking shortish distances) . It was then a very long wait, but eventually the wheel chairs did come . We were pushed along the passageways and taken in a lift, but in total a fairly short journey . At the next stage there was no buggy . The wheel chair pushers were not happy with this . I was told to sit down on the corridor seats and not to leave until she came back to tell us . To cut a long story short - when we ultimately arrived in the baggage hall there was no luggage on our carousel . Not only was there no luggage but there were no waiting passengers . I needed to find a supervisor, but first a visit to the toilet was overdue . On my return my wife was standing there (we had asked the wheelchair pushers to take us and leave us in the baggage hall) with our suitcase - it had evidently been on the belt when we had originally arrived, but was on a trip to the non-passenger environs . So we were certainly the last passengers of our flight to go through customs.

Next year when the competitors for the 2012 paralympics arrive in London, there will be some interesting scenes in Heathrow airport . There will be no need to go there to see . The scenes and intelligent anger will be on the television in the living rooms through the entire world . And it will not be the Spanish owner of BAA who will earn the opprobrium - it will be Britain - and the British tourist business will pay the cost during 2013 and 2014.

Will this be the legacy of the 2012 Olympics?

[notlangley]

continued ....

It would appear that the Tullamarine system is that each airline is responsible for customer assistance.