Airport chaos: huge queues, sweltering planes and e-gate mayhem - our experiences flying from London

Travellers were stranded without water at Heathrow, Gatwick and Manchester airports and NationalWorld was told as the atmosphere got tense and aggressive as more and more people joined the cramped lines. The Home Office said: “At no point was border security compromised, and there is no indication of malicious cyber activity.”

This was the latest chaos in a long line of incidents to affect holidaymakers flying from the UK in recent years, so we asked two NationalWorld correspondents for their experiences jetting out from London airports.

‘We sat for four hours on the tarmac in the sweltering heat’

It was around 5am when we reached our AirBnB in the Roman neighbourhood of Monteverde, and it took about another half an hour fumbling around to get the keybox open. Desperate to make the most of our time off, I’d booked a Friday evening flight from London Gatwick. I was aware this was a risk, but thought even if we were slightly delayed we’d land in Italy just after midnight.

However, as seems to be the case every time I fly now, it was delayed - the hours ticking by and the communication from the airline getting more and more sparse. The year before we were escorted onto a boiling hot British Airways plane, only to sit for four hours on the tarmac in the sweltering heat as the power wouldn’t come on. It’s unclear why we were herded on board when the flight was unable to take off, other than a misguided attempt to give passengers a free sauna while they waited. 

So it came as no surprise to find out that thousands of travellers were left queuing for hours as e-gates went down across the country. To be fair, at Stansted or Luton there doesn’t have to be a technical glitch to wait for ages, that seems to be my experience every time.

Of course, these very much are first world problems. By the time you get on holiday, who cares if you’re a few hours late. I'm more making a comment that this has turned into the norm when flying from a London airport. Queue for ages at security, your flight is then delayed several hours for an unspecified reason and there’s then a huge wait at your destination to get your passport stamped, as we’ve left the EU.

The queues in Europe are only likely to get longer later in the year. The EU is bringing in a new post-Brexit system which requires every traveller to have their fingerprints and face checked against a database. No more Friday night flights, that’s for sure.

Perhaps with all of this (and the environmental impact) it’s time to move to trains. You can arrive closer to the departure time, bring as much luggage as you want and even take your pre-holiday drink on board with you. Once you get onto the continent, prices are much cheaper as well - I travelled from Hamburg, halfway across Germany in perfect comfort for £15. Next time I’m aboard the Eurostar, racing towards France, I’ll raise a glass to all the people queuing at Gatwick, Luton or Stansted.

Ralph Blackburn

‘I’ve experience my biggest waits and queues at Heathrow’

Gatwick is probably the airport I travel through most, and I usually find it’s an absolute breeze. Between its two spacious terminals (incredibly easy to navigate between thanks to a frequent shuttle service), open layout, and very visible signage, it’s easy to move around and to find your gate. The crowd management is excellent too. I’ve never had to wait in an excessively long queue or felt particularly crowded even during busy times, and have always been able to find clean bathrooms and somewhere to sit - which is, of course, absolutely crucial if you like to get to the airport a good couple of hours before your flight.

Like Luton and Stansted, Gatwick’s a wee way out of the city, and the only real issue I’ve run into is train strikes affecting many of the lines that run to it. But being smack bang between London and Brighton means it’s exceptionally well connected via transport links, and even on strike days there have always been enough trains passing through that it hasn’t been a problem. It’s easy to get there from most major stations in Central and South London (a timesaver if you live in Croydon!) and if you’re flying out early, there are surprisingly affordable hotels literally right on the North Terminal’s doorstep.

Heathrow, however, probably takes the cake in terms of ease of transport, with direct access to the Elizabeth Line - and with it, access to the rest of the London Underground. It’s also spacious and well laid out, but I’ve experienced much bigger waits and queues for bag drop off and security than I have at other airports during peak times. 

Entering the UK from another country via Heathrow is possibly the sleekest, most seamless process I’ve ever experienced, however. When I arrived in the UK from New Zealand for the very first time, I was through the e-gates and into the country so quickly I was sure I’d made a wrong turn somewhere.

Amber Allott

What are your experiences flying out