Border Force and Heathrow

The normally mild-mannered John Holland-Kaye, CEO of Heathrow, got somewhat hot under the collar when announcing Heathrow’s February traffic figures last week.

The cause of the frustration.  Long waits at both terminals as passengers waited to pass through Border Control.

“Aviation has always led the UK economy out of recession, and we will do so again,” he said. “The PM’s Global Travel Taskforce can lead the way on reopening international travel and trade safely – but ministers must get a grip of Border Force’s performance so that visitors get a warm welcome to Britain, not a six-hour queue.” 

He noted that the monthly passenger numbers fell below half a million, the lowest since 1966, due to the ban on all but essential travel, blanket quarantine, pre-departure and post-arrival testing.

Limits on passenger flights, which normally carry freight, meant that cargo volumes remained 30% down on an annual basis, while EU rivals including Frankfurt, Paris Charles de Gaulle and Amsterdam Schiphol airports returned to pre-Covid cargo tonnage levels  

He noted that the airport was working with the Travel Taskforce to facilitate the safe restart of international travel after 17 May.

www.heathrow.com

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Delia Brown, Paris

I thought it was Heathrow who was at fault. It seems that it’s the British Government. Sort things out please before my next trip across.