AFP/London
Mayor Boris Johnson yesterday said the passport check queues of up to two hours at London’s Heathrow airport were giving a “terrible impression” of Britain as the furore over the situation escalated.
Mayor Boris Johnson arrives for a hustings event in London yesterday. London’s mayoral elections will take place on May 3, 2012
The government has been under fire over the long passport control queues at the world’s busiest international passenger airport, which will be the main gateway for the 2012 London Olympics.
Delays of up to two hours for passengers from outside Europe were reported last week at Heathrow.
Johnson wrote to Home Secretary Theresa May to voice his “serious concern” about the difficulties, which have triggered a clash between Border Force officials and BAA, the air hub’s owner and operator.
The mayor, who is standing for re-election on Thursday, said the delays gave “a terrible impression of the UK” and it was unfortunate that Britain’s main port of entry was “gaining such a poor reputation”.
“It is quite clear that because of problems at the UK border, London and the UK’s reputation as a welcoming city in which to do business or travel are at stake.”
In tough economic times, “it is vital that those coming here to do business find arrival an easy and welcoming process. Anything that interferes with that damages our city,” added the mayor.
Passengers waited for up to an hour at the airport on Friday to go through border control, while there were two-hour queues on Thursday for passport holders from outside the 30-country European Economic Area.
There were reports that frustrated passengers resorted to slow hand-clapping and jeering, while one fed-up traveller marched through the gates without showing his passport.
Meanwhile, extra passport staff were drafted into Heathrow yesterday as the row over the chaos at the airport intensified.
Immigration union leaders said UK Border Force officers from Manchester had been rushed down to help in London following a barrage of criticism about the excessive delays.
The move came as the Steve Ridgway, the head of Virgin Atlantic, joined the attack over the border chaos by accusing ministers of economic “madness”.
He said the government had blundered by cutting border guard numbers without ensuring that adequate technology was available to replace them — and warned that ministers were jeopardising the country’s prosperity when Britain needed “everything it can get” from overseas business and tourism.
His comments came as Lucy Moreton, from the Immigration Services Union, revealed that extra border staff had been flown in from Manchester in a bid to reduce the queues which have seen passengers forced to wait for hours to enter the country.
But there were new reports of long queues as passengers arriving from North America into Terminal 3 complained of large numbers of unmanned passport desks.
Border Agency looks to cover up problem
Heathrow airport has been ordered by the UK Border Agency (UKBA) to stop handing out to passengers leaflets acknowledging the “very long delays” at immigration. Passengers flying into the airport at the weekend reported having to wait for up to three hours before clearing passport control. But after leaflets apologising for the problem were handed out by BAA, which owns Heathrow, the UKBA warned that they were “inappropriate” and that ministers would take “a very dim view”. The airport operator was also told to prevent passengers taking pictures in the arrivals hall, according to the Daily Telegraph, which obtained correspondence from Marc Owen, director of UKBA operations at Heathrow. Pictures of lengthy queues have been posted on Twitter by frustrated travellers. Owen said: “The leaflet is both inflammatory and likely to increase tensions in arrivals halls especially in the current atmosphere. It is inappropriate in that it is not for you to display how to complain on our behalf. Please refrain from handing out (the leaflets) or I will escalate (the matter) with ministers who are likely to take a very dim view. I know there are copies in the hall and your troops are ready with them.”