BA passengers today face chaos in Heathrow Airport’s pre-Christmas travel. They are facing cancelled flights, long queues at Border and an ocean of luggage that has been left behind at baggage claim.
Amazing photos and videos show suitcases left unattended on conveyor belts in Terminal 5 at Heathrow. One passenger described it as “complete chaos”.
Some passengers even received instructions to return home with their luggage and to have the mail sent to them, rather than waiting for long periods to pick it up.
Today, more than half of the BA flights leaving from west London airport were cancelled. Pictures show lines of people waiting for Border Control at Heathrow.
The delays were attributed to a mix of fog and shortages in staff due to Covid. BA Chiefs blamed the staff for their difficulties and stated that they are trying to resolve the problem ‘extremely hard.
It’s Christmas time, and tens of thousands are making their way across the Atlantic to see their family for the holiday.
This also happens as thousands of travellers arrived in the UK from the UK last week, causing delays at Heathrow’s Border Hall.
BA passengers today face chaos in Heathrow Airport’s pre-Christmas travel. They are facing cancelled flights, long queues at Border and an ocean of luggage that has been left behind at baggage claim.
Amazing photos and videos show suitcases left unattended on conveyor belts in Terminal 5 at Heathrow. One passenger described it as “complete chaos”.
Today saw at least six BA flights departing from west London airport cancelled. Meanwhile, photos show people waiting in long queues for Border Control at Heathrow. BA Chiefs blame Covid fog, staffing shortfalls and Covid itself for delays.
Heathrow Passenger also used Twitter to post photos of passengers queuing up in corridors, waiting for Passport Control
After last week’s chaos, yesterday’s delays at Heathrow were once again caused by fog. BA chiefs blamed the foggy Sunday for causing the delay.
The bad visibility was a major factor in delays that caused huge disruptions throughout the day, and even into the evening.
This was caused by a surge of Covid-related illness and staff being made to isolate themselves.
MailOnline learned that delays caused by the delay became so serious at one point, that some passengers were asked to get home and drop their luggage at the airport. BA staff would then collect it and deliver it to them.
The result was a sea of unclaimed luggage that grew alongside the conveyor belts, before being pulled together and transported to safe locations.
MailOnline was informed by some passengers that their luggage had gone missing. Last night, a passenger flying into Heathrow shared his experiences via Twitter.
Jack Lawrence, a biomedical science masters student, wrote on Twitter“Big lines to exit the airport are a common sight for passengers whose flights were cancelled.”
“Apparently all luggage of cancelled flights is being placed on one luggage conveyor.” There’s so much chaos with bags – both from cancelled and actual flights that British airways is now suggesting people go home and submit a missing baggage claim.’
Other people described it as “complete chaos”. Natalia Kaliada tweeted: “Complete Chaos at Heathrow.” There are massive delays in getting your luggage.
“No system in place. The best advice is to take your luggage with you. The Christmas Spirit!
One passenger commented: ‘BA-Just started our honeymoon and our luggage is stuck at Heathrow. The customer service telephone line is not available and the missing bags reporting system won’t allow us to log a report on one bag.
Today’s cancellations include BA flight to Malaga from Heathrow, Barcelona, Glasgow, and Amsterdam.
A flight from the UK to Germany was also cancelled yesterday, after the introduction of a ban on travel by tourists.
MailOnline was informed by a spokesperson from BA that they had apologised for flights cancelled because of operational limitations.
“Our staff works extremely hard to help customers get rebooked as soon as possible.
Border Control was also delayed, and photos taken last night show long lines as they approach passport control.
One passenger commented that Heathrow Airport needed to get out of its own way. It’s chaos.’
Border Control is under the Home Office’s responsibility. They have been contacted to comment. Heathrow said that the problems at Terminal 5 are due to specific airlines.
After passengers complained last week about Heathrow’s long lines, they have now taken the decision to move.
Passengers reported that up to 4000 passport holders were backed up due to yet another E-gate crash.
The immigrants claimed that the wait was so long they had to wait for over an hour, when normally it takes only six minutes.
According to passengers, there was up to 4000 people at passport check (pictured today), due to another egate.
The men claimed that they had been waiting hours for the immigration section to open, when normally it takes only six minutes (photo taken today).
John Grimshaw returned to Britain after his funeral for his mother. He got caught in the chaos.
According to him, there was a queue of thousands waiting to go through passport control. He called Heathrow “a joke”.
MailOnline was informed by him that he had just arrived in Chicago. There were thousands of passport-control applicants waiting at the E-gates.
‘What the f***. It was a huge expense for business class tickets, but it didn’t make any difference. The place is laughable. The e-gates are down. They’re being fixed.
“I am where the Immigration Area is normally located, and I’m standing still.” It’s likely that there are three-to four thousand of them.
He said: “Ten plus large-bodied aircraft arrived in the air with more than 300 passengers on them. It is not acceptable for the country’s main airport.
Other critics criticized Heathrow’s traffic via social media. One said that it was adding stress to already stressful situations.
Gerry Green posted on Twitter, “Was In Immigration Queue in Heathrow Today, No Social Distancing”, Hot and Sweaty, Only Two People Checking Passports.
“Then six more are added. There is no riot, just comments on tea breaks and such. British humour still exists, despite mushroom treatment.’
Online, one user wrote: “Is there any way to improve the wait times and queues to check into Heathrow T2?”
Maan Harbi (teaching assistant) added: “We were supposed to depart at 15:00, but we’re still here at 17:00 because of a technical problem with our luggage system.”
Meanwhile, Britons lashed out at Heathrow over the additional cost of parking while in hotel quarantine prior to the new rules.
Graham Else said he will have to pay £350 on top of his £2,450 stay in isolation due to the pricey parking at the airport.
He told the Telegraph: ‘My wife and I are caught up in the quarantine hotel debacle and arrived on December 8. My booked period expired and I tried to extend the T5 Heathrow Long Term Parking on the 9th. However, it was impossible to do online.
‘I now have the prospect of paying £33 per day for the excess days which means I will have a bill of more than £350 when my original term was approximately £140 for 21 days.’
He said, “My wife and me are pensioners. You can understand the effect of the hotel quarantine fee on our finances. So this additional whammy really hurts.”