Border Bedlam as Heathrow arrivals queue for ‘three hours’

Border Bedlam as Heathrow arrivals queue for ‘three hours’ as e-gates are closed, on what is set to be Heathrow’s busiest weekend of the year so far.

Travellers arriving at Heathrow today, Saturday, July 24, were forced to queue for around three hours after only one official was left to check passports of arriving travellers and e-gates were reportedly broken, according to tired travellers.

Today is said to be the busiest weekend of the year so far for Heathrow, but sadly, as travellers arrived from amber list countries they experienced delays which meant that some were not able to catch their pre-booked coaches or taxis.

Holidaymakers were also hit with further delays as London Underground trains from the terminals at Heathrow were closed over the weekend. The closures are due to engineering works, and this has meant that many travellers who have already been delayed have had to take a bus service instead if they wanted to head to Hammersmith.

British holidaymakers are eager to get away for a summer holiday abroad and easyJet today alone, has flights to over 80 countries and they will fly some 135,000 Brits to holiday destinations.

One holidaymaker who was visiting the UK today told the Mail Online how he had to wait for hours to get through passport control. ‘My flight landed at 7:30am and it’s now 10:00am, so it’s taken me almost three hours to come through. I’ve now missed my coach so have to get the underground into London and then get a train down to Bournemouth”, said the holidaymaker.

‘That doesn’t make any sense to me because I’m supposed to be quarantining. When I booked a day five test in Boots, they said there weren’t any available, so come in on day 4 instead – it’s ridiculous. I’m supposed to be going back in three weeks’ time, but the rules keep changing so I might have to cut it short.

‘Going on a stag-do and to a wedding has turned into a month long trip. It’s put me off coming back to England again.’

John Holland-Kaye, Heathrow CEO, commented on the staggering number of travellers this weekend. According to the CEO, this weekend is ‘set to be one of the busiest of the year so far’.

‘We’re thrilled to see the terminals coming to life again, with most of the shops and restaurants now reopened.’

He added: ‘We look forward to welcoming back even more passengers as vaccination rates climb in the UK and abroad.’

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