securiety at Heathrow
Just planning a trip. Checking luggage through, flying from Seattle to Toulouse on BA. I see we can fly into and out of Heathrow now and don't have to transfer to Gatwig. My question is, under normal circumstances, will we have to claim baggage at Heathrow and go through security again before boarding our fight to Toulouse France? Thanks
Mary
Seattle, Washington 11/3/09
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No, you are doing an international transfer. You will have a passport check point, but will not leave the "transit" area at Heathrow.
Most likely you will stay inside the new BA Terminal 5.
They do security right at the gates there.
You will arrive at Terminal 5 and depart from Terminal 5. You will have to go through security, but your luggage will be checked through to Toulouse. See this page on the Heathrow Web site for the details.
And no immigration/passport control until Toulouse as well....
If you're wondering why there is no immigration/passport control, it's because you are in transit to another country and technically you don't enter the UK.
If it's true you are staying in Terminal 5 for the transfer to the Toulouse flight, you're lucky, because changing terminals at Heathrow can take a lot of time, because you have to go though security lines, and sometimes these can take half an hour or more, causing you to miss your flight if you have a short connection time.
I hate Heathrow.
There is always security at Heathrow, even if just changing planes in the same Terminal. The Brits don't trust the security from the foreign airports, and double check everyone arriving from overseas before letting them board another plane.
If yo do have to change terminals, you will do so "airside" on the walkways or buses. without having to transit to "groundside." That means you don't have to go through entry to UK immigration, get out and then come back in again.
Unfortunately for us, London’s Heathrow Airport voted worst airport in the world. Here at LAX we're near the "bottom" of that list as well but I seem to fly from there a lot with not too much trouble.
There is always security at Heathrow, even if just changing planes in the same Terminal. The Brits don't trust the security from the foreign airports, and double check everyone arriving from overseas before letting them board another plane.
At all airports, everywhere in the world, international transfer passengers have to go through a security screening before boarding their connecting flight. It's not just at Heathrow.
Fortunately, as Tim previously mentioned your flights in and out of Heathrow are out of Terminal 5 so no change of terminals is necessary. Don't know why it was brought up?
"At all airports, everywhere in the world, international transfer passengers have to go through a security screening before boarding their connecting flight. It's not just at Heathrow."
It's just that the security queue at Heathrow is infamously long and slow.
RE: Slow long lines at Heathrow security.
Maybe it is because security at Heathrow is more thorough? I noticed them intently inspecting each bag and even though it is not time efficient, it may offer more security.
I don't have an issue with it since I only fly non-stop flights.
"At all airports, everywhere in the world, international transfer passengers have to go through a security screening before boarding their connecting flight. It's not just at Heathrow."
This is definitely not true. Actually, most often, you don't go through security again at your transfer point, but this varies from airport to arport and also depends on your origin airport. Trough Europe, you generally do not clear security at your transfer point, only when travelling onwards to the US or when coming in from "unsafe" countries.
I specifically said "international transfer passengers". I've been on countless transatlantic/pacific flights and have always had to pass through security again before the flight to my final destination...at every airport-even if it's in the same terminal. Flights within the EU are not considered international flights; they're handled as domestic flights; just like in the US for domestic transfers...there's no security screening between flights within the same terminal. But for international connections, passengers always have to go through another secuirty screen even if the connecting flight is in the same terminal.
In the UK, the whole world is "unsafe." They don't know what flight you came in on when they security check you again before boarding your next flight. Security checks are done much closer to the aircraft door than at the US airports so they catch everyone boarding.
Thanks for all the help on this. When I asked about "security" I was referring to the, claim baggage, go through the "plastic bag" type of security not simply showing my passport at the boarding gate area. So from what I've gotten here I think that, under normal conditions, if we check our bags in Seattle through to Toulouse and have both boarding passes, we will de-plane and go to our departing gate, show passport and be set to go. Hopefully this is all we have to do. Really appreciate the help.
No, it's not quite that simple. Your hand luggage will be inspected and you will go through security screening before you can go to your gate. See the link I gave in my first post above.
You don't touch your checked baggage on an international transfer at LHR. But the security is not that simple, you will go through all the steps in the picture I posted towards the top of the thread.
At this time Seattle to TLS BA #0048 Arrives Heathrow at T 5 BA #0374 Departs Heathrow at T 5
Hopefully it stays this way and I will plan on your chart above. Thanks again.