Latest: UK airports hit by Easter cancellations, queues and chaos
Passengers at Heathrow Airport have reported lengthy waiting times for five days straight, with some weary travellers forced to join “a quarter of a mile long” queue after landing at Terminal 5.
The west London airport has been wracked by problems in the arrivals and check-in areas, prompting dozens of frustrated passengers to take to Twitter to demand answers.
A man named Bobby tweeted Heathrow to question why he was still queueing at immigration desks more than two-and-a-half hours after his flight arrived early on Wednesday.
"Terminal 2 plane lands 06.51 client is stuck in a queue with one desk open. Absolute disgrace!" he tweeted.
Another traveller hit out at the "exceptional queue" at immigration.
Richard Benyon, a former MP who now sits in the House of Lords, was one of hundreds of travellers caught up in the setbacks after landing at Terminal 5 early on Tuesday. He was forced to stand in a long line while waiting to be processed by Border Force staff.
“In a queue about a quarter of a mile long at Heathrow,” he tweeted. “No one telling us about what the problem is. No staff on hand at all. Welcome to Britain.”
Another passenger described the chaos as the “worst queue I have ever seen at any airport”.
“Seems over 100m long just to get to the main immigration area where there will be more queuing. What is going on?” they said.
On Monday, travellers touching down in Heathrow again reported longer-than-usual waiting times.
Passenger Martin Haven described the Terminal 5 queues as “VERY much longer” than the normal waiting period.
Theodora Lau said it took her “40 minutes to get through the queue” at immigration after landing at the UK’s busiest airport.
On Sunday, passengers also reported lengthy waiting times at Border Force desks.
Peter Anderton tweeted a photo of a packed hallway, saying: “Heathrow on Sunday night had a 100 metre queue to get into the arrivals hall which was also chaos. No explanation given.”
Julie Welham, who was at the airport on Sunday, said there were enormous queues at check-in desks.
“Queues like I have never seen – no way to work out which queue is which. 45 minutes so far waiting to check in and not even close to the front of the queue – and loads of check-in desks not even open,” she tweeted.
Marcelo Esquivel posted a photo of people queueing with trolleys at check-in desks.
"Big queues at Heathrow airport even for priority check in," he tweeted. "It looks like they don’t have enough staff for this high demand."
In pictures - decades of flight at Heathrow
Passengers at Heathrow last Saturday were also hit by chaos.
Dr Emma Chapman, a physicist at Imperial College London, shared a photo of a packed Terminal 5 showing hundreds of passengers sitting in lounge areas, cafes and restaurants waiting for flights.
She said there had been “chronic staff shortages at Heathrow” resulting in a “3 hour 20 minute delay so far”.
Last week Heathrow Airport dropped its mask mandate, meaning passengers and staff no longer need to wear face coverings.
A new relationship with the old country
Treaty of Friendship between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United Arab Emirates
The United kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United Arab Emirates; Considering that the United Arab Emirates has assumed full responsibility as a sovereign and independent State; Determined that the long-standing and traditional relations of close friendship and cooperation between their peoples shall continue; Desiring to give expression to this intention in the form of a Treaty Friendship; Have agreed as follows:
ARTICLE 1 The relations between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United Arab Emirates shall be governed by a spirit of close friendship. In recognition of this, the Contracting Parties, conscious of their common interest in the peace and stability of the region, shall: (a) consult together on matters of mutual concern in time of need; (b) settle all their disputes by peaceful means in conformity with the provisions of the Charter of the United Nations.
ARTICLE 2 The Contracting Parties shall encourage education, scientific and cultural cooperation between the two States in accordance with arrangements to be agreed. Such arrangements shall cover among other things: (a) the promotion of mutual understanding of their respective cultures, civilisations and languages, the promotion of contacts among professional bodies, universities and cultural institutions; (c) the encouragement of technical, scientific and cultural exchanges.
ARTICLE 3 The Contracting Parties shall maintain the close relationship already existing between them in the field of trade and commerce. Representatives of the Contracting Parties shall meet from time to time to consider means by which such relations can be further developed and strengthened, including the possibility of concluding treaties or agreements on matters of mutual concern.
ARTICLE 4 This Treaty shall enter into force on today’s date and shall remain in force for a period of ten years. Unless twelve months before the expiry of the said period of ten years either Contracting Party shall have given notice to the other of its intention to terminate the Treaty, this Treaty shall remain in force thereafter until the expiry of twelve months from the date on which notice of such intention is given.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF the undersigned have signed this Treaty.
DONE in duplicate at Dubai the second day of December 1971AD, corresponding to the fifteenth day of Shawwal 1391H, in the English and Arabic languages, both texts being equally authoritative.
Signed
Geoffrey Arthur Sheikh Zayed
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The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
The Bio
Favourite vegetable: “I really like the taste of the beetroot, the potatoes and the eggplant we are producing.”
Holiday destination: “I like Paris very much, it’s a city very close to my heart.”
Book: “Das Kapital, by Karl Marx. I am not a communist, but there are a lot of lessons for the capitalist system, if you let it get out of control, and humanity.”
Musician: “I like very much Fairuz, the Lebanese singer, and the other is Umm Kulthum. Fairuz is for listening to in the morning, Umm Kulthum for the night.”
The%20specs
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Moving%20Out%202
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Countries recognising Palestine
France, UK, Canada, Australia, Portugal, Belgium, Malta, Luxembourg, San Marino and Andorra
Key findings of Jenkins report
- Founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, Hassan al Banna, "accepted the political utility of violence"
- Views of key Muslim Brotherhood ideologue, Sayyid Qutb, have “consistently been understood” as permitting “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” and “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
- Muslim Brotherhood at all levels has repeatedly defended Hamas attacks against Israel, including the use of suicide bombers and the killing of civilians.
- Laying out the report in the House of Commons, David Cameron told MPs: "The main findings of the review support the conclusion that membership of, association with, or influence by the Muslim Brotherhood should be considered as a possible indicator of extremism."
'Worse than a prison sentence'
Marie Byrne, a counsellor who volunteers at the UAE government's mental health crisis helpline, said the ordeal the crew had been through would take time to overcome.
“It was worse than a prison sentence, where at least someone can deal with a set amount of time incarcerated," she said.
“They were living in perpetual mystery as to how their futures would pan out, and what that would be.
“Because of coronavirus, the world is very different now to the one they left, that will also have an impact.
“It will not fully register until they are on dry land. Some have not seen their young children grow up while others will have to rebuild relationships.
“It will be a challenge mentally, and to find other work to support their families as they have been out of circulation for so long. Hopefully they will get the care they need when they get home.”
AUSTRALIA SQUAD
Steve Smith (capt), David Warner, Cameron Bancroft, Jackson Bird, Pat Cummins, Peter Handscomb, Josh Hazlewood, Usman Khawaja, Nathan Lyon, Shaun Marsh, Tim Paine, Chadd Sayers, Mitchell Starc.
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SPECS
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