Heathrow Airport’s boss has told the Home Office to “get a grip” on the bottlenecks that are still causing long delays in getting people through border control.
John Holland-Kaye expressed doubt that Border Force would be able to cope if travel restrictions were relaxed on May 17.
Some passengers have faced six-hour delays, but he says it’s a “completely fixable problem.”
The Home Office stated that additional delays would be caused by paperwork and health checks.
“If passengers have not completed the necessary requirements to enter the UK, queues and wait times will be longer.” Airlines are responsible for ensuring that their passengers have completed all of the necessary requirements, and airports play a critical role in ensuring that travellers can social distance themselves at passport control.
“When passengers arrive at the border, Border Force checks to ensure that they have complied with current health measures.” Passengers should currently expect longer queues and wait times than usual.”
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps has promised that delays will be reduced once border controls begin to automate paperwork.
International travel restrictions are not expected to be relaxed until the 17th of May at the earliest, but there are concerns that when measures are relaxed, border control delays will worsen.
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“We haven’t seen quite enough action to be confident that Border Force will be able to cope on May 17,” Mr Holland-Kaye said. According to Heathrow’s CEO, the Home Office must “get a grip on this to ensure that the Border Force does not become the choke point on the UK economic recovery.”
