Passengers at Heathrow Airport claim they have been forced to 'dangerously' crowd together in arrivals thanks to 'chaotic' UK Border Force procedures.
Travellers took to social media to share images of their experience in the west London airport, claiming there were only two gates open in customs - which led to hundreds of people gathering together with social distancing being made impossible.
The scenes were labelled “dangerous and absurd” , with one traveller, Bo Bradley saying she had waited 45 minutes after landing on a British Airways flight from JFK Airport in New York, reports MyLondon.
Responding to Bradley on Twitter the airport said waiting times at the border “have on occasion been unacceptable” and that it had “called on the UK Government to address the problem as a matter of urgency.”
The current delays, Heathrow said, were because Border Force was “currently experiencing some delays as they conduct additional spot checks to ensure passenger compliance with the UK Government’s latest entry requirements.”
It added that it was the UK government who operated immigration independently from the airport.
Heathrow said its “teams in the terminals are on hand to support where possible and we are working with Border Force to reduce delays as soon as possible.
“We encourage passengers to maintain social distancing, however we appreciate this isn’t always possible at every point of the airport journey.
“This is why face coverings are mandatory at Heathrow, in line with Government guidance, as they reduce the risk of transmission.”
It comes after previous fears of travel chaos when leaked analysis warned there could be four-hour queues at London's Heathrow Airport this summer.
According to Playbook, Department for Transport modelling predicted families with young children will face the extreme wait on arrival back to the UK, due to health checks at the border.
A government source told the Mirror they believed the analysis was produced in April.
They stressed the system has improved since then - including a dedicated Heathrow terminal for red list countries, and a pilot scheme that allows travellers to use electronic passport gates.
But the source added: "There are still going to be queues at the border.
"We're hoping it's as smooth as possible, but we're not going to compromise the health of the public or the vaccine rollout.
"That's likely to cause queues where people haven't done the required paperwork and testing, or the carriers haven't done their work."
A Heathrow spokesperson said: “Whilst Heathrow has deployed dedicated COVID marshals to maintain adequate social distancing within the immigration hall, it is Government’s responsibility to put in place adequate resource and ensure their checks are carried out safely and efficiently.”
