Passengers queue for check-in at Heathrow Airport’s Terminal 2. Laura O’Callaghan / The National
Passengers queue for check-in at Heathrow Airport’s Terminal 2. Laura O’Callaghan / The National
Passengers queue for check-in at Heathrow Airport’s Terminal 2. Laura O’Callaghan / The National
Passengers queue for check-in at Heathrow Airport’s Terminal 2. Laura O’Callaghan / The National

My surprising Heathrow experience gliding through airport without queues


Laura O'Callaghan
  • English
  • Arabic

Heathrow’s week of manic queues and flight cancellations, relayed to me by countless passengers who had been caught up in the chaos, meant I was fully expecting to experience a similar nightmare first-hand when I arrived at the airport on Friday afternoon.

But instead of being greeted by long lines of frustrated travellers snaking their way towards unmanned desks I was surprised to find just a handful of people in front of me in the check-in line and more than enough staff on hand to assist.

Those travelling with other airlines, however, appeared less fortunate.

I watched a queue of about 50 passengers waiting to check in with Swiss Air that barely moved during the 15 minutes it took to drop my luggage off.

After managing to clear check-in I was surprised to have just seven passengers in front of me at security.

Half an hour after arriving at Heathrow I found myself pondering my luck in a half-empty terminal, with check-in and security behind me. I thought of the thousands of passengers who had been stranded in queues for hours earlier this week. Passengers arriving into the country had faced even longer queues, as problems with e-gates meant delays at passport control.

While the Easter break has brought a much-needed boost to the travel industry, not everyone is happy about the west London airport’s handling of the sudden upsurge in passenger numbers.

Heathrow, like Manchester Airport, is struggling to recruit enough staff to cater for the swelling passenger numbers.

A waiter at one of the restaurants told me he wanted to see Terminal 4 opened “as soon as possible” to ease the strain on T2, T3 and T5.

'A dangerous cocktail'

Heathrow Airport’s Terminal 2 was quieter on Saturday. Laura O’Callaghan / The National
Heathrow Airport’s Terminal 2 was quieter on Saturday. Laura O’Callaghan / The National

The airport has said it will bring it back into operation by July.

“It’s not fair on the workers and passengers in the other terminals when there’s no room to walk here,” the waiter said.

He blamed the extended waiting times at check-in, security and passport control on three factors: the lack of transparency from the UK government, Heathrow bosses’ handling of the situation and the pandemic.

“When you get those three things together it’s a dangerous cocktail,” he said as he poured a drink for an awaiting customer.

He believes the Conservative-led government should have been more open with the travel industry before lifting restrictions, and Heathrow management should have stepped up and done more to ease the pressure this week.

“Sorry is just not part of the managers’ vocabulary,” he said.

But despite the strain that the pent-up demand for travel has placed on Heathrow and other airports in Britain, shop assistants told me it offered a dose of cash the industry has long been waiting for.

One employee said travel pillows had been flying off the shelves. Her store had sold 400 in the previous five days — double the rate of recent weeks.

Another saleswoman said her manager was scrambling to hire more staff following the rush that started last week when schools shut for the Easter holidays.

An assistant at a make-up counter said the Easter break coinciding with the beginning of Ramadan was just what airport businesses needed.

“It's been busy this week for Easter. There have also been a lot of people travelling to the Middle East for Ramadan,” she said.

“It’s good. Things are picking up now that the travel restrictions are gone.”

Passengers around me appeared upbeat, but I doubt they would have been so excited to be boarding a plane for the first time in months, perhaps years, if they had been stranded in the massive queues at Heathrow early this week.

One woman remarked how she was looking forward to “cuddles on the other side” when she met up with loved ones for their first reunion since the pre-pandemic days. An air hostess with bright red lipstick also commented on how “it’s great to be back”.

After breezing through the entire departure process I sat on the plane and breathed a sigh of relief. I had dodged the dreaded chaos and as a result started my holiday on a positive note.

I considered myself to be equally lucky to have booked a flight on Friday, given that Heathrow is braced for more chaos in the coming days. Saturday is tipped to be the busiest day of the year so far for the travel industry, as the first batch of Easter holidaymakers arrive back and the second wave leave.

An influx of travellers is also expected to hit Heathrow next week as people head abroad and others fly to the UK for the bank holiday Easter weekend.

And then I remembered … my return flight to Heathrow is next week.

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Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais

Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.

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Brief scoreline:

Manchester United 0

Manchester City 2

Bernardo Silva 54', Sane 66'

Combating coronavirus
ENGLAND SQUAD

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Nayanthara: Beyond The Fairy Tale

Starring: Nayanthara, Vignesh Shivan, Radhika Sarathkumar, Nagarjuna Akkineni

Director: Amith Krishnan

Rating: 3.5/5

BMW M5 specs

Engine: 4.4-litre twin-turbo V-8 petrol enging with additional electric motor

Power: 727hp

Torque: 1,000Nm

Transmission: 8-speed auto

Fuel consumption: 10.6L/100km

On sale: Now

Price: From Dh650,000

While you're here
The bio

Studied up to grade 12 in Vatanappally, a village in India’s southern Thrissur district

Was a middle distance state athletics champion in school

Enjoys driving to Fujairah and Ras Al Khaimah with family

His dream is to continue working as a social worker and help people

Has seven diaries in which he has jotted down notes about his work and money he earned

Keeps the diaries in his car to remember his journey in the Emirates

Without Remorse

Directed by: Stefano Sollima

Starring: Michael B Jordan

4/5

FIXTURES

Thu Mar 15 – West Indies v Afghanistan, UAE v Scotland
Fri Mar 16 – Ireland v Zimbabwe
Sun Mar 18 – Ireland v Scotland
Mon Mar 19 – West Indies v Zimbabwe
Tue Mar 20 – UAE v Afghanistan
Wed Mar 21 – West Indies v Scotland
Thu Mar 22 – UAE v Zimbabwe
Fri Mar 23 – Ireland v Afghanistan

The top two teams qualify for the World Cup

Classification matches
The top-placed side out of Papua New Guinea, Hong Kong or Nepal will be granted one-day international status. UAE and Scotland have already won ODI status, having qualified for the Super Six.

Thu Mar 15 – Netherlands v Hong Kong, PNG v Nepal
Sat Mar 17 – 7th-8th place playoff, 9th-10th place playoff

Company profile

Company: Verity

Date started: May 2021

Founders: Kamal Al-Samarrai, Dina Shoman and Omar Al Sharif

Based: Dubai

Sector: FinTech

Size: four team members

Stage: Intially bootstrapped but recently closed its first pre-seed round of $800,000

Investors: Wamda, VentureSouq, Beyond Capital and regional angel investors

How to help

Donate towards food and a flight by transferring money to this registered charity's account.

Account name: Dar Al Ber Society

Account Number: 11 530 734

IBAN: AE 9805 000 000 000 11 530 734

Bank Name: Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank

To ensure that your contribution reaches these people, please send the copy of deposit/transfer receipt to: juhi.khan@daralber.ae

At a glance

Fixtures All matches start at 9.30am, at ICC Academy, Dubai. Admission is free

Thursday UAE v Ireland; Saturday UAE v Ireland; Jan 21 UAE v Scotland; Jan 23 UAE v Scotland

UAE squad Rohan Mustafa (c), Ashfaq Ahmed, Ghulam Shabber, Rameez Shahzad, Mohammed Boota, Mohammed Usman, Adnan Mufti, Shaiman Anwar, Ahmed Raza, Imran Haider, Qadeer Ahmed, Mohammed Naveed, Amir Hayat, Zahoor Khan

The biog

Name: Younis Al Balooshi

Nationality: Emirati

Education: Doctorate degree in forensic medicine at the University of Bonn

Hobbies: Drawing and reading books about graphic design

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The squad traveling to Brazil:

Faisal Al Ketbi, Ibrahim Al Hosani, Khalfan Humaid Balhol, Khalifa Saeed Al Suwaidi, Mubarak Basharhil, Obaid Salem Al Nuaimi, Saeed Juma Al Mazrouei, Saoud Abdulla Al Hammadi, Taleb Al Kirbi, Yahia Mansour Al Hammadi, Zayed Al Kaabi, Zayed Saif Al Mansoori, Saaid Haj Hamdou, Hamad Saeed Al Nuaimi. Coaches Roberto Lima and Alex Paz.

Anxiety and work stress major factors

Anxiety, work stress and social isolation are all factors in the recogised rise in mental health problems.

A study UAE Ministry of Health researchers published in the summer also cited struggles with weight and illnesses as major contributors.

Its authors analysed a dozen separate UAE studies between 2007 and 2017. Prevalence was often higher in university students, women and in people on low incomes.

One showed 28 per cent of female students at a Dubai university reported symptoms linked to depression. Another in Al Ain found 22.2 per cent of students had depressive symptoms - five times the global average.

It said the country has made strides to address mental health problems but said: “Our review highlights the overall prevalence of depressive symptoms and depression, which may long have been overlooked."

Prof Samir Al Adawi, of the department of behavioural medicine at Sultan Qaboos University in Oman, who was not involved in the study but is a recognised expert in the Gulf, said how mental health is discussed varies significantly between cultures and nationalities.

“The problem we have in the Gulf is the cross-cultural differences and how people articulate emotional distress," said Prof Al Adawi. 

“Someone will say that I have physical complaints rather than emotional complaints. This is the major problem with any discussion around depression."

Daniel Bardsley

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Most sought after workplace benefits in the UAE
  • Flexible work arrangements
  • Pension support
  • Mental well-being assistance
  • Insurance coverage for optical, dental, alternative medicine, cancer screening
  • Financial well-being incentives 

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Ziina users can donate to relief efforts in Beirut

Ziina users will be able to use the app to help relief efforts in Beirut, which has been left reeling after an August blast caused an estimated $15 billion in damage and left thousands homeless. Ziina has partnered with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to raise money for the Lebanese capital, co-founder Faisal Toukan says. “As of October 1, the UNHCR has the first certified badge on Ziina and is automatically part of user's top friends' list during this campaign. Users can now donate any amount to the Beirut relief with two clicks. The money raised will go towards rebuilding houses for the families that were impacted by the explosion.”

Tori Amos
Native Invader
Decca

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Key features of new policy

Pupils to learn coding and other vocational skills from Grade 6

Exams to test critical thinking and application of knowledge

A new National Assessment Centre, PARAKH (Performance, Assessment, Review and Analysis for Holistic Development) will form the standard for schools

Schools to implement online system to encouraging transparency and accountability

Updated: April 09, 2022, 10:49 AM