The government was today facing questions about why there were so few Border Force guards dealing with thousands of Heathrow passengers yesterday after yet more shocking scenes of huge queues at the airport.
Exhausted families with young children and elderly people could be seen sitting on the floor in the queues, which snaked as far back as the gates in Terminal 2, while Terminal 5 was also badly hit.
Parents complained about being corralled to the limited number of counters operated by Border Force staff because facial recognition technology on e-gates does not work with babies and toddlers.
Disgruntled passengers took to social media to share their frustration, with one claiming ‘only 5-6 counters out of 32 were operational’.
Parents complained yesterday about being corralled to the limited number of counters operated by Border Force staff because facial recognition on e-gates does not work with babies and toddlers
Entrepreneur James Reed tweeted: ‘Perverse arrangements at Heathrow T5 arrivals this weekend; adults are checked digitally, but families with small children (under 12) have to queue for hours. Huge Q last night at 11 pm with many very tired small children. Surely there’s a better way.’
And Camilla Kerr added: ‘Yesterday I arrived at London Heathrow to chaotic queues. Families with kids can’t go through the e-passport checks so we had to queue for the border guards. Problem is there was only two employed to deal with hundreds of families. Why wouldn’t you employ extra guards?’
In at least one case, passengers were held on board a plane after it landed because delays in the terminal building had become so bad.
People waiting complained they had been offered no water and questioned why officials appeared to be manning only two or three border checkpoints.
Meidad Suchowolsky said he arrived with his wife on a flight from Tel Aviv at 12.45pm.
But five hours later, the couple were still waiting in line with other exasperated travellers.
Mr Suchowolsky, 61, said: ‘It’s unbelievable. There are parents here with babies and young children and people from many different countries – and we have no idea who is vaccinated and who isn’t.
‘There only seem to be two people on the checkpoints and we haven’t been told anything.’
Another man waiting in line said he arrived with his family at 12.15 but they were still waiting well over five hours later.
Hundreds of holidaymakers were seen standing in close proximity to each other as they waited pass through checks at Border Control yesterday
The father-of-two, who didn’t want to give his name, said: ‘Everyone is very frustrated. You’ve had children crying and people sitting on the floor for hours.
‘No one has offered us any water, or an explanation. It’s disgraceful.
‘Some people here must also have come from countries on the red list yet we are all packed in here together.’
He estimated there were ‘thousands’ of people still waiting to be seen at 5.30pm.
Other passengers expressed frustration via Twitter and claimed that more checkpoints were open for EU arrivals than non-EU arrivals despite bigger queues for the latter.
‘Have been waiting over 5 HOURS. No water, no bathroom,’ one person tweeted. ‘This is a disgrace.’
Another woman tweeted to say that she and other passengers had being stopped from disembarking from their plane because of the holdups.
‘No water being offered, one lady on the plane very unwell,’ she tweeted.
Passengers were left furious as they stood in line for hours to pass through checks at Border Control at Terminals 2 and 5
And another said: ‘Our flight arrived at 13:45, together with other 2 flights. 4 hours in the line, without COVID measures or special attention for women and kids.’
Last month, Border Force officers were reportedly told they no longer needed to make Covid checks on all arrivals in a bid to reduce airport queues.
According to a leaked report officials were told they no longer have to ‘routinely’ check passengers arriving from green and amber list countries.
Arrivals currently have to provide a negative Covid test taken before departure and must complete a Passenger Locator Form within 48 hours of departure to the UK.
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But, as of last month, Border Force officials no longer routinely check passengers have these documents, according to the leaked document, first reported by the Guardian.
Passport e-gates also no longer refer passengers to in-person checks by Border Force officers if a passenger locator form is not found, the paper reports.
Passenger Locator Forms are still checked by airlines ahead of travel, while the Government insists arrivals who do not comply still run the risk of being fined.
The change in policy also does not impact on red list arrivals, who must isolate in designated quarantine hotels for 10 days, at the cost of £1750, after landing in the UK.
Passengers complaining about the chaotic scenes on social media last night
The recent scenes are just the latest example of hours-long delays at Heathrow in recent weeks.
The setbacks have been blamed on Covid-related staff shortages in the UK Border Force
At one stage earlier this month, more than a quarter of Heathrow’s Border Force staff were reportedly off sick with the coronavirus.
A Heathrow spokesman declined to comment when contacted by the Mail last night.
However, on Twitter, the firm told users who complained that ‘unfortunately immigration desks/E-gates can only be operated by UK GOV officials and not airport staff’.
‘Waiting times at the border have on occasion been unacceptable and we have called on the UK Government to address the problem as a matter of urgency,’ the airport added.
The Home Office has been contacted for comment.
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