Ever tried getting into the states via JFK....the LHR queues are nothing compared to those over the pond.

You'll be reassured to know that:
Phew, that's a relief. I was worried that we Brits would make a hash of it. :p

BBC News - Heathrow queues: Border Force 'ready' for Olympics

The UK Border Force has been cut to the quick, odd considering the Conservatives are keen to prevent mass immigraition. Only a moron could be shocked that chronic underfunding and not paying enough money in the right places means the end product is shabby.
I don't object to cuts in public spending but *in the right places* for goodness sake.

Yes, and I found it remarkably quick and stress free, despite all the negativity one hears. Certainly far better than LHR.

Consider this: Whenever you check in for a flight to the UK, your passport details are taken by the airline and whizzed to the UK by the marvellous world-wide interwebby thing. That means the UKBA will generally have had prior notice of your arrival for something like a minimum of two hours. Now, if I've got this right, they know who they've issued visas to, who's a national, who's entitled to be in Britain and more importantly, who's not. Special Branch can also match their list against the 'inbounds' and identify those of interest. So, all the UKBA have to do, is make sure the people who get off the flight are those who checked in. How hard can it be?

Personally I think Wallies at the top of the UKBA haven't a clue what their job is all about. Additionally, they have no understanding of how technology can help them nor of how to design a system. They are also scared fartless of someone complaining about their human rights being breached. This results in pointless waiting in queues, systems which don't speak to each other, the ridiculous Landing Cards and hundreds of "Asylum" bludgers illegally landing in Britain each week.

As it runs at the moment, the system is a waste of cash and time.

PM

PS. You can stick the L*nd*n 2*12 event (I can't mention it by name, as that would be a criminal offence) where the sun doesn't shine. Any event that requires an Act to make the infringement of sponsorship deals a criminal offence can screw itself. This fiasco will be one of the most expensive job and business destroying events we've seen in Britain. I'll be truly glad when it's all over.

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 :ugh:. 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.

Arrived at T3 about a month ago at about 1730 on a Monday and got through in about 5 minutes. Six months earlier about the same time at T4..
Hope I haven't put the evil eye on myself for next time!!

You've done it now....!

Admittedly every time I come in it is early in the morning when most long haul flights come in. However you would think the Border Agency may have been able to pick up on that fact! And obviously plan accordingly. But I think that is where the problems are.

It's only news to politicians, Shropshire Lad! And the media are being helpful, I would say, to highlight this. Of course, in September, it will all go back to normal.

I wasn't born cynical, I just live in Britain. :p

I know. I'm just watching the news now and looking at the Terminal 5 video. That is nothing compared to what I've experienced in T3. It is good that the media are highlighting this. However I suspect that this is just further evidence that if you cut the cash then the service suffers. A "no sh**t sherlock" moment. Unfortunately as this appears to be the general direction of travel for the UK we shouldn't be surprised when this kind of thing becomes the norm for all public services in the next year.

I came through terminal 4 around 6pm on the 25th, the Immigration area was packed with queues going down the corridors, I was lucky enough to use the electronic entry which took less than 5 minutes, but anyone in the other nationals line was looking at a bleak couple of hours of standing around.

As this is low season, I will be extremely impressed to see how they cope during the Olympics.

Mutt

You know that the host nation gets to designate a new sport?

"Who can get through T3 border control the fastest?"

Judging will be by UK residents, from their sofa's with remote voting. That way - we get some X-factor style and call it. "Britain's Got Pax" :}

Compared to Miami, LHR is a breeze.................

And compared to Frankfurt, Amsterdam and CDG? Why do we always have to compare ourselves to the Americans?

55 minutes at ORD. Two staff at a time when 3 744s and 2 777s arrive. Only 3 to deal with US citizens.

Your tax dollars at work.....

Far be it for me to question the validity of your assertions, but ....... was that once or twice you flew then ?

Okay, its a while since I did lots of long haul, but either you're someone who needs to be checked thoroughly, you're the statistical tail of the probability curve or your memory is faulty.

two points:
 

1. if it is bad now, what would it be like with a third runway?

2.i agree we should not compare with the USA. they have a reputation of under-funding public facilities eg their post office. it has been said that infrastructure in the USA suffers from the contrast of 'private affluence, public squalor'.

It is quite a few times - can't quite remember exactly how many. Had it been once or twice i would put it down to chance, however it's every single time. I'm not claiming that this will be everyone's experience and to be fair it has always been long haul. However I have spoken with others who have had a similar experiences (again long haul and bizarrely more often than not T3). I was making no claims to statistical probability, however the number of times it has occurred to me seems to suggest that it happens quite regularly.

I wouldn't think that they would know I was someone who needs to be checked thoroughly as the line usually stretches from the desks to the entrance door of the immigration hall. Clearly they don't know who you are when you enter and I generally get from the red line at the desk to past the desks in around 30 seconds! Suggests to me that the bulk of the wait is getting to the desk!

The main reason, I guess, is that there is that period of time in the morning when a lot of long hauls come into the airport depositing a huge number of people at the same time. Probably at some point the Border Agency might notice this and perhaps consider scheduling an appropriate number of staff to cover this period. Who knows??

This is amusing:
Heathrow airport told to stop giving out leaflets over delays - Home News - UK - The Independent
So, let's not allow people to take pictures and don't encourage them to complain - and everything will be all right ...

For once, I side with BAA who are trying to ensure they don't get the blame that belongs to the Border Agency, i.e. the Home Office.

I feel sorry for the poor staff who man the desks. At the same time, I'd like to see a public flogging for the UKBA head and the Home Secretary for allowing this state of affairs to happen.

Arrived BRS late afternoon Friday on a flight from GVA. After the very long walk from gate 1 (including three flights of stairs) arrived in the immigration hall. The two queues were labeled: "EU/EEA passports" and "All passports". Many non-ff Swiss passengers headed for the "All passport line". Both queues quite long (to the stairway). Halfway along the queues were then labeled "EU/EEA/Swiss passports" and "All non-EU/EEA" passports (Yes this confused the normally bright Swiss). So almost everyone in my queue was trying to get into the other queue giving rise to moans and groans in both queues. Once past this point I got straight to an agent and out. Waited for my British wife for about 10 minutes.

There was a ground agent (not Border Control) sitting on a high chair at the end of the queue pointing to the agent that was free. Is it really better to employ a person for this mindless job that employ a simple flashing light? (And how about some signs in languages other than English)

Of course the magic machine designed to let Brits through faster wasn't working (the hours were posted). Couldn't see why it was only open a few hours a day. If they needed a body to redirect those that the machine misdirected they could have taken that lady off her high chair.

Compared to Miami, LHR is a breeze.................

Flew CDG-MIA on 26th, immigration hall full in MIA but all desks manned, was through in approx 15 minutes, no problem.
Did not arrive at LHR on this trip but did depart from T5 to CDG, arrived into MAN from JFK and no problem at all at immigration, straight through, only had hand luggage and was in the hotel less than 30 minutes after landing.

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? ;)

My BIL arrived at Heathrow last night on a flight from the Far East. At some later point in the flight they were informed that Border Agency staff would be coming on board to check passports after landing.

They didn't.

He finally disembarked and more than an hour's wait later, BIL and wife got back into the UK. I won't repeat his comments here because they are easy to guess.

Heathrow isn't functioning now by any normal standards and it won't be during the Olympics, either.

I think that is one of the problems though. It's not as if they are surprised by the fact that a lot of long haul flights are suddenly turning up. This happens on a daily basis. Actually - maybe they are surprised by it and that's the reason why we have the queues!!

I can imagine the conversations

"Oh crikey more hoards of people coming though and we still haven't got enough staff"

"I know - that's the 5th time this week and it's only Friday."

"Weird - the same thing happened last week - what do you think's going on?"


I suspect that if BAA have resorted to handing out leaflets apologizing then the situation must be coming to a head.

I just heard that to alleviate the queues at Heathrow during the Olympics, the Border Agency is considering a system where each arriving passenger checks the passport of the person next to him in the queue. This is so briliant I wonder why they don't do it all the year around......

Don't Panic!!!
You'll be relieved to know that the 'immigration minister' has it all under control ...
Phew! And there we were thinking it was penny pinching and managerial incompetence. :rolleyes:

BBC News - Damian Green makes pledge over airport queue delays


Added this quote from the BBC article:
Mr Green also said there would be a new Border Force central control room at Heathrow and rapid response teams to deal with pressures across the airport, and new shift patterns would be implemented within weeks.

But the Immigration Services Union's Lucy Moreton told BBC News: "It takes some time to move from terminal to terminal at Heathrow - it takes about 45 minutes to get to each side of the airport.

"So even then deployment isn't going to be an instantaneous thing as Mr Green thinks it is." She criticised him for talking of "an unexpected surge in passenger flows" and said: "These aircraft have been flying for some hours and we do know exactly how many people are on them.

Latest is that "if it takes 4 hours to process people during the Olympics, so be it".

Head of border agency. My response would be to issue him a P45 for 'gross misconduct'

Taken from an article on BBC web this morning:
Very interesting.

Also, from: Rain blamed for latest chaos in Heathrow queues - Home News - UK - The Independent

Have the passengers never said stuff the queues and just walked through? What would/could the BA do? K, those that need a stamp thingy would have to wait but the rest, especially those with EU passports should just walk.

'The performance target is 25 minutes for EU passengers at Heathrow, though the target is routinely missed.'

So even if they meet the target I will still spend more than two working days a year waiting in line at Heathrow - plenty of time to reflect on the benefits of locating an international business in the UK and of paying 50% tax.

And when you do get to the desk, the staff are such nice people.

There won't be a problem with immigration for people going to the Olympics.

The expert Lord Coe says so!

Video: Lord Coe: Heathrow queues will be sorted by London 2012 Olympics - Telegraph

So he knows more than the head of the Borders Agency....

I'm going to have a rant! I'm sorry, but I just can't hold back any more. A sort of fury wells up inside until it just bursts out (I suppose I'll regret this later...)

The whole crass, tacky Olympics farce is maddening. It's ludicrously expensive (estimating £12 - £24Bn now) and involves the temporary suspension of some of our laws and ancient rights and our ability to travel, and indeed live, normally. I didn't want it in the first place and will be boycotting all tv coverage, London and specifically the sponsors as a result.

I hope that they don't fix the problems at Immigration: I hope the problems get worse. I hope that the world stays away, and that if it in fact turns up there are riots in the queue - at least that way something might get changed in the long term. I love the fact that while imbecile Britain stands back drooling and sucking its' thumb, wondering where the comfort blanket of democracy has gone, other people in the world appear to be deciding that they don't wish to be treated with total contempt by the local authorities. I say visitors should go for it, big time: Fight, Scream, Punch, Kick - knock the desks and the staff over: Hang the Border Patrol managers from the nearest ceiling beam with their own Tensabarriers. Hell, let's provide disembarking passengers with firearms: Maybe they'll move on from Immigration and change some other stuff in Britain for the better?



OK - Sorry. I'm going to have a drink and a lie down now

Couldn't agree more Tight Slot.

I too will be boycotting this party. What can you say about an organisation that is sponsored by McDonalds, Coca Cola, and Heineken? :ugh: puke: :vomit:

Apparently British beers cannot be purchased on-site or within a km or two, nor is there any food other than McDoodoo. I'm guessing you can also have any soft drink you want, provided it is made by Crappy Cola.

This ain't sports, it's marketing. (And I'm boycotting their products as well)

Totally agree with you tightslot. And ExXB.

Why the BF's ever got us into this mess, i shall never know. Proven total incompetence of the politicians, to whom it should have been obvious what the costs would be.

I'd really like heads removed on Tower Green.

To the three preceding posters and to everyone else who has expressed similar opinions :

:D:ok::D:ok::D:ok::D:ok:

I was beginning to think I was almost alone in having such sentiments, which in fact apply to pretty much all so-called 'sporting' events.

Aaaah! A Capetonian raises his head

TS + others.

YOU ARE CORRECT!!!
At the risk of this thread now going to JB ...

If my work permitted, I would be out of the country for the whole period and find the tiniest possible island to sit on.

The politicians went for it because they knew that they would all be out of the game by the time the games happened. They had win-win. They 'won' because they supported the bid and then because they got the games. Yet, ANYONE and EVERYONE knew that the money would evaporate into the back pockets of the big boys and the wide boys. The history of the Olympics since 1945 is clearly visible.

I could rant about this for ages simply because it was damm stupid arrogance to get the country into this. Especially when a property and financial crash was already overdue at the time of the bid. So it was bound to have popped at the wrong moment and it did.

And DON'T get me started on that bl@@dy word 'legacy' because the legacy is debt. I lived in the Munich Olympic village for six months in 1999/2000 and could see how amazingly far forward they were in their thinking. They were planning in the late 1960s and I'll bet the things that are left behind in East London are not as good.

Actually, there's no chance of this thread going to JB - because TS is on our side. ;) :cool:

Sticking my head above the parapet for a minute.............

Is there anyone anyone on Pprune who supports this completely stupid idea dreamt up by mentally deficient idiots?

There doesn't seem to be................

I know people in ZA and Australia who are in favour. Easy for them to say that!

I have also heard that a friend's neighbour's cousin's hairdresser has a gay partner who lives in Walthamstow and works for MuckDonalds and is in favour because they will get 5p. overtime.

I have yet to hear of anyone in the UK with greater intelligence than an amoeba who is in favour of it.