If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above. You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below. |
|
|
Thread Tools | Display Modes |
#1
|
|||
|
|||
Heathrow: The world's least favourite airport
http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/tra...cle2788626.ece
Heathrow: The world's least favourite airport By Cahal Milmo and Martin Hickman Published: 21 July 2007 As millions of holidaymakers seek to escape Britain's miserable summer by flying abroad this weekend, a perfect storm of delays, under- investment and environmental protest is brewing over Heathrow airport. Today, the world's busiest international airport will open its doors to the first of 10 million passengers who will pour through its terminals in the coming crucial eight-week period, amid warnings of renewed travel chaos and reeling from the departure of its chief executive. Tony Douglas, who left his post a month after admitting Heathrow was "bursting at the seams" , leaves behind an airport that is the subject of growing criticism from airlines and passengers over delays caused by security checks and the slow modernisation of its creaking infrastructure by its owners, British Airports Authority (BAA) . One senior airline executive told The Independent: "The blunt truth is some of the facilities at Heathrow are now world-beatingly bad. Terminal 2 is a shambles and money is not being spent fast enough. The airport is in danger of sending out a message it is not fit for purpose. And it is the passengers, the airlines and the UK economy paying the price." The problems for BAA will be intensified when a protest camp is set up next to Heathrow aimed at highlighting the environmental impact of aviation and the threat to hundreds of homes from a proposed third runway. Organisers have vowed direct action next month to maximise the impact of their demonstration but deny it will affect passengers. BAA described any plans to disrupt the airport as "extremely irresponsible". But with Heathrow receiving 68 million passengers a year, half as many again as its intended capacity of 45 million, it is far more likely that delays will come from within the airport itself as it battles to maintain morale. The Independent has been told that Mr Douglas, who also said the airport was "at times ... held together by sticking plaster" is one of four senior executives to have left BAA's Heathrow team in the past year, along with a significant number of middle-ranking managers. Up to 220,000 people a day will pass through the airport in the next two months, putting massive pressure on its ability to process baggage and security-screen passengers. British Airways said yesterday that it had cleared a backlog of 20,000 bags caused by recent bad weather and security alerts. Meanwhile, the weather created more chaos yesterday as the airport said it had cancelled 141 flights because of the torrential rain that swept across the UK. The airline, Heathrow's biggest operator, admitted it was vulnerable to further difficulties because hand luggage restrictions mean it is carrying 15 per cent more baggage in the holds of its aircraft. Despite the Government's intention to increase the baggage allowance to two bags, it could still be months before the measure is introduced. Stringent security checks imposed last summer after the alleged bomb plot using liquid explosives brought Heathrow to a grinding halt. Despite recruiting 500 extra security staff, the airport is not meeting its target to process all passengers in security lanes within five minutes. BAA said 97 per cent of passengers during its last holiday peak in Easter were processed within 10 minutes but Mr Douglas said he could not guarantee another " extraordinary event" would not cause chaos. Passenger groups said the lack of any spare capacity at the airport meant it was disproportionately vulnerable to such incidents. A spokesman for the Air Transport Users Council said: "It is tough every summer at Heathrow and it just gets harder with the security problems. I think all passengers can really do this year is hope nothing happens outside the airport and everything runs smoothly inside. There is no leeway when things go wrong." BAA said yesterday that it expected many of Heathrow's problems to be eased with the opening next March of the £4.2bn Terminal 5, which will handle all BA flights and relieve congestion at the four other terminals. BAA, which was bought for £16bn by the Spanish group Ferrovial, has earmarked a further £6bn for revamping those buildings, including the demolition or refurbishment of Terminals 1 and 2 to create a new hub with a capacity of 30 million. But the new facilities will not be finished before 2016. BAA is pressing its regulator, the Civil Aviation Authority, to allow it to maintain the fees it charges airlines to use Heathrow. It has warned that the airport's capacity problems * it fills 98.5 per cent of its flight slots * means it risks losing its dominance to competitors such as Paris Charles de Gaulle and Schiphol in Amsterdam, which run at about 70 per cent capacity. Airlines argue that BAA, which is also facing an inquiry into whether its monopoly of London's three airports should be broken, has already made enough money to fund the required investment. BAA made profits of £620m last year. A spokeswoman for Virgin Atlantic said: "We have some sympathy for the owners but, compared to other airports, there is chronic under- investment * despite BAA making substantial profits year after year. They have not kept up with the development of other airports." Heathrow in figures £620m BAA profits last year 68 million Passengers received per year 45 million Intended capacity 500,000 passengers this weekend 10 million Passengers estimated for the next 10 weeks 500 Extra security staff |
#2
|
|||
|
|||
Heathrow: The world's least favourite airport
Make credence recognised that on Sat, 21 Jul 2007 10:28:06 -0700, Jock
Surly has scripted: http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/tra...cle2788626.ece Heathrow: The world's least favourite airport By Cahal Milmo and Martin Hickman Published: 21 July 2007 Heathrow bad? According to: http://www.sleepinginairports.com/ it's not even in the bottom 10. These journos need to visit Sheremetyevo. -- --- DFM - http://www.deepfriedmars.com --- -- |
#3
|
|||
|
|||
Heathrow: The world's least favourite airport
On 22 Jul, 10:16, Doesn't Frequently Mop
wrote: Make credence recognised that on Sat, 21 Jul 2007 10:28:06 -0700, Jock Surly has scripted: http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/tra...cle2788626.ece Heathrow: The world's least favourite airport By Cahal Milmo and Martin Hickman Published: 21 July 2007 Heathrow bad? According to:http://www.sleepinginairports.com/ it's not even in the bottom 10. These journos need to visit Sheremetyevo. -- --- DFM -http://www.deepfriedmars.com --- -- ....and its also not in the top 10 (where you would expect it to be) |
#4
|
|||
|
|||
Heathrow: The world's least favourite airport
On Jul 22, 5:16 am, Doesn't Frequently Mop
wrote: Make credence recognised that on Sat, 21 Jul 2007 10:28:06 -0700, Jock Surly has scripted: http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/tra...cle2788626.ece Heathrow: The world's least favourite airport By Cahal Milmo and Martin Hickman Published: 21 July 2007 Heathrow bad? According to:http://www.sleepinginairports.com/ it's not even in the bottom 10. These journos need to visit Sheremetyevo. Heathrow has to be one of the world first world airports - but no one is comparing it to Moscow, Jakarta or Lagos. |
#5
|
|||
|
|||
Heathrow: The world's least favourite airport
"Iceman" kirjoitti legroups.com... it's not even in the bottom 10. These journos need to visit Sheremetyevo. Heathrow has to be one of the world first world airports - but no one is comparing it to Moscow, Jakarta or Lagos. It is easy to believe that most of the worst airports reside in Africa. Sheremetyevo is interesting. Aeroplanes are taking off outside the terminals. Birds are taking off inside the terminals. They offered "free lunches" to transit passengers which were supposedly similar to those served to inmates of the Stalin's Gulag. When I visited the airport first time I was about to buy a cup of coffee in a bar upstairs. Learing the price of nine (9) US dollars, I tactfully walked away. |
#6
|
|||
|
|||
Heathrow: The world's least favourite airport
On Sun, 22 Jul 2007 02:20:44 -0700, 'Surly' Jock Surly
wrote: On 22 Jul, 10:16, Doesn't Frequently Mop wrote: Make credence recognised that on Sat, 21 Jul 2007 10:28:06 -0700, Jock Surly has scripted: http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/tra...cle2788626.ece Heathrow: The world's least favourite airport By Cahal Milmo and Martin Hickman Published: 21 July 2007 Heathrow bad? According to:http://www.sleepinginairports.com/ it's not even in the bottom 10. These journos need to visit Sheremetyevo. -- --- DFM -http://www.deepfriedmars.com --- -- ...and its also not in the top 10 (where you would expect it to be) I wouldn't expect any of the largest airports to be in the top ten, unfortunately large multi-terminal airports become less and less efficient by their very nature, especially when their capacity is overstrained. I haven't had many major problems flying, but flying through LHR, Toronto and Houston have never been fun, I found Frankfurt, Munich, and Vancouver to be all reasonable. Interestingly I found Delhi amd Ho Chi Minh City to be friendly and efficient, Delhi's baggage pick up area is a bit nasty tho' and you have to watch out for thieves that just pick up your bag on the carousel, but that's another story. Small airports will always, however, trend toward the nicest experiences. My nearest International Airport (Halifax (YHX)) is wonderful, and has many awards, but then there are only 20 or 30 passenger flights daily, and maybe 1/3 are international (but it is growing) G |
Thread Tools | |
Display Modes | |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
the third world - Heathrow airport | Chiken Koma | Europe | 306 | May 28th, 2007 02:30 PM |
the third world - Heathrow airport | alf[_2_] | Air travel | 1 | May 23rd, 2007 03:04 PM |
the third world - Heathrow airport | alf[_2_] | Europe | 0 | May 23rd, 2007 08:27 AM |
Need airport shuttle from Heathrow or Gatwick Airport | Anthony Fong | Air travel | 0 | June 26th, 2004 10:46 AM |