UK Border - Gatwick Snail Service...

[Butts]

I went to the Motorshow in Geneva yesterday with my son on a "daytrip" from Gatwick on BA.

On arrival in Switzerland we passed through Passport Control in minutes both on arrival and departure.

However at Gatwick on arrival back from Switzerland it took 40 minutes to clear Passport Control (North Terminal). This is an absolute disgrace, imagine the impression given to visitors. What was even more annoying was that there were no messages being relayed over the intercom explaining the reason for the hold up or apologising.

Is Gatwick always this bad ?

Landing at Heathrow, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Manchester and Birmingham I have never experienced such a wait.

Has anyone experienced a longer wait on returning to a UK Airport to clear Passport Control under normal circumstances ?

I think they should have 3 queues, UK, EU and Others - I would accept this abroad as well. (Home Nation has priority)

 

[Tetchytyke]

I've waited over an hour before at Stansted. Middle of August, so naturally they had all of three passport desks open :roll:

I don't know whether the airport or the UKBA sets staffing levels, but it is a disgrace.

 

[gordonthemoron]

Stansted and Luton have been my worst experiences

 

[flymo]

Flew into LHR early morning last June. 2 BA A380s arrived within 3 minutes and disgorged all their passengers into the arrivals hall. ONE passport desk open for UK/EU and 2 for the rest. The self service desks were closed too, apparently the computers didn't start work until 05:30. 40 minutes to get my UK passport checked. LHR and T5 in particular is just awful.

 

[radamfi]

I'm not sure separating UK and EEA would help unless you had very few desks for EEA. I wouldn't that anyway if it meant longer queues in the EEA outside the UK. This situation is the penalty for the UK not joining Schengen.

Were there long queues at the self service booths?

 

[Mojo]

I don't know why we are so concerned about the "impression for visitors." Most other countries are far worse. I think we are very efficient in the UK and very rarely am I waiting longer than 10 Min. Heathrow T5 is the best though.

Rather like the Self-service Checkouts, I avoid the ePassport gates as they are much slower and don't seem to work properly.

 

[Oswyntail]

Over an hour at Manchester last June, arriving back from Greece. "Busy as normal" the chap said.

 

[bb21]

More ironically, sometimes if you come off a connecting flight from Europe, the queue for UK/EEA nationals could be very long while the one for other countries can be empty. I had that a few times at Birmingham and EMA.

 

[radamfi]

When most Europeans fly, they can leave the airport without being checked unless they have come from a non-Schengen country. But when we come home we are checked if we have come from *anywhere* outside the Common Travel Area. Therefore delays at passport control are more significant for UK residents.

 

[Greenback]

More ironically, sometimes if you come off a connecting flight from Europe, the queue for UK/EEA nationals could be very long while the one for other countries can be empty. I had that a few times at Birmingham and EMA.

I've seen this as well.

I also agree with Mojo. I've waited longer at Auckland and Los Angeles than I have in the UK. LAX took two hours and twenty minutes to get through.

 

[W-on-Sea]

Hmm, the very reverse of my experience at Gatwick North Terminal a couple of weeks ago, arriving back from Turkey, on a weekday mid-afternoon.

No wait whatsoever - straight through the ePassport gates without even having to join a queue. Quite a pleasure - I wish this was more normal/common!

Sounds like you were very much less fortunate.

 

[radamfi]

Some of the worst delays at Gatwick can actually be when you arrive from Ireland, the Isle of Man, Jersey or Guernsey at the South Terminal. Because of the odd design of the airport, flights from these places arrive at the same place as flights from the rest of the world. So in order to exit the airport, you need to show your boarding pass to the attendant at the narrow side exit. You are not allowed to join the queues for EU/EEA or rest of the world. So if multiple flights from Ireland come in at once, you all have to funnel through that side exit.

 

[Jordy]

Rather like the Self-service Checkouts, I avoid the ePassport gates as they are much slower and don't seem to work properly.

I remember when they were first introduced you could go through quickly as it seemed nobody dare use them. Unfortunately they've now got so popular that they're slower than the manual checks!

 

[Kite159]

I once had a 2 and a half hour wait to clear passport control at JFK. Bit of a bad impression to America as the area was quite warm.

Although going to/from China last month, both times I beat the bags when going through passport control.

 

[jon0844]

Rather like the Self-service Checkouts, I avoid the ePassport gates as they are much slower and don't seem to work properly.

I preferred IRIS, but now if you use the ePassport gates and it fails, you're ushered to another desk and can sometimes skip the queue.

Edit: I do think as they've become more popular, you might not save any time anyway.

 

[me123]

I've never had major problems at the UK border, but I've always avoided the worst of the queues (my last trip, I transferred at LHR for example, and I've previously transferred through Dublin which is even better).

My biggest gripe with passport control is that most of the agents I've had are unbelievably surly. Some of them don't seem to want to make eye contact (which must make confirming my identity rather difficult). One I remembered didn't even say a single word to me, she just took my passport, looked at it and threw it back at me. And I quite often feel like they're treating me with suspicion, which I wouldn't expect too much of considering I'm supposedly a citizen of this country and I've never exactly travelled anywhere off the beaten tourist track.

By contrast, I've found the US Customs & Border people to be much more personable, contrary to many stories! Admittedly the queues are generally much slower moving (again, fly via Dublin if you can to take advantage of pre-clearance and a speedy entry to the US), and your entry interview is more thorough than you'd get elsewhere. However, I've always been treated with professionalism and courtesy - sadly lacking at the UK border all too often. I don't think the queues are what gives the bad impression, it's the all-too-frequent brusque reception you get at the end of them.

Europe often has very quick queues, but I think that's a mixed blessing as I've never found them to be particularly thorough.

 

[Butts]

Has anyone ever heard them making announcements apologizing for the delay and giving the reason ?

 

[jon0844]

Has anyone ever heard them making announcements apologizing for the delay and giving the reason ?

Hahahaha!

No.

And I agree with the above poster who points out that you're often treated with suspicion, although given a British citizen can't be refused entry I am never intimidated one bit. Unlike going to the USA, where it's fair to say that they're always very polite (in my experience) but are clearly trying to get lots of information out of you.

 

[Searle]

I'd echo the statements of others in this thread, I haven't waited that long in a while in any London airports, but recently I had to wait between an hour and two in Atlanta Hartsfield Jackson, and my partner had to wait about 90 minutes in New York JFK. I'd consider 40 minutes to be pretty good tbh! :P