Chaos at Heathrow as families queue for ‘over three hours’ to enter UK
Passengers at Heathrow Airport say they were kept waiting for more than three hours to get through immigration with little social distancing.
Long queues snaked around Terminal 2 and 5 as frustrated travellers hit out at the number of closed passport control desks, causing ‘chaos’ over the Bank Holiday weekend.
As travel restrictions continue to ease, more people are coming back from long-awaited trips abroad.
But instead of holiday snaps, passengers took to social media to share photos of the tailbacks at border control, with some claiming they had to wait five hours to get through.
One traveller Ashish Joshi tweeted about his ‘horrible’ experience: ‘The immigration process took 3.5 hours not because there was a huge crowd of passengers but because only five to six counters out of 32 were operational, what is wrong with the management?’
Londoner Mikhail Spivakov also hit out after his elderly mother waited nearly five hours at the immigration queue earlier today.
He said: ‘My mother has just spent nearly five hours in the immigration queue at Heathrow.
‘Is this joke a gateway to the so-called Global Britain?
‘When international arrivals (including elderly and children) spend five hours in the immigration queue in a poorly ventilated space, with no social distancing, food facilities or even seating, how does it affect the reputation of this airport and this country?’
Security at the airport is managed by Heathrow itself, however, E-gates and desks can only be operated by UK Border officials – not airport staff.
Stuart Poyser criticised Heathrow staff for allegedly ‘stuffing’ British Airways passengers coming from the US on a shuttle bus.
He said: ‘Stuffing everyone onto a tiny bus and refusing to leave until there are 50 of us onboard.
‘Only a mini revolt prevented them putting even more on.’
Another angry traveller also shared their disbelief at the number of people being crammed on the airport buses.
Aaron Brown said: ‘Mandatory to wear a face mask but then ram everyone on the shuttle.
‘So much for social distancing at Heathrow Airport throwing families with young children into longer queues. Staff are clueless!’
Meanwhile, a Home Office spokesperson revealed Border Force officers are currently being redeployed to support arrivals from Afghanistan.
A statement said: ‘Our utmost priority is protecting the safety and health of the public.
‘That means, occasionally, passengers will need to accept an increase in the time taken to cross the border, especially during peak travel periods.
‘We will never compromise on border security and continue to fulfil our vital function of keeping the border secure while checking that passengers are compliant with the current health measures.’
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