‘Why are UK’s airports not being managed properly?’
NO EXCUSE FOR BAGGAGE DELAYS AND LONG CHECK-IN QUEUES, SAYS BUSINESSMAN
DUE to my business, charity work and holidays, I travel abroad a lot.
But it is with great sadness that I have to say the UK, and especially London airports, are today not managed properly. There are long waits for check-in, collecting baggage, or getting a landing slot.
I recently read that passengers at Gatwick airport had to wait for hours for their luggage and some passengers took to social media to complain. There were several tweets about the shortage of baggage handlers at Gatwick and the reason – apparently – was that airlines outsource this work to baggage handling companies, so the airport is not responsible for it.
It’s not that this happened because too many flights were overbooked. This time the hot weather was given as a reason for the baggage delays.
Most London airports have struggled this summer. Travellers flying out of Heathrow experienced major delays due to flight cancellations and staff shortages. The luggage of passengers returning from holiday was seen scattered and many had to search for their bags.
In such a situation, the airport management or airlines get away by offering passengers a rebooking, refunds, hotel stays, or lunch or dinner vouchers. But what about those who have to go on holiday or for weddings, business or conferences, or other occasions?
Last month, I was returning from Faro to London Heathrow on holiday when our plane was delayed by three hours. When we landed, we were informed that there was no parking bay available, due to which we had to stay on the tarmac for an hour. After that, I had to wait for more than an hour and-a-half for the baggage.
After one of our bags arrived, we had to wait another hour for another suitcase. When we enquired, we were told the baggage did not arrive because there were not enough baggage handlers. On the other hand, we saw piles of baggage near the conveyor belts. Our two-and-a-half-hour journey turned into almost 12 hours. I’m fine, but what about people who are disabled? They must sit in a wheelchair. How much trouble will patients with diabetes or aged people have to wait without eating or drinking anything?
I would like to point out one more thing. I have never ever seen a customs officer in the green channel at Heathrow. I guess they might be screening the main baggage with luggage inside, but who is checking the small handbags? What is not included in the thousands of daily flights from the country and abroad?
This is happening at the world’s busiest and so-called most prestigious airport. Considering all this, I think the airport system is going down the drain. It’s as if no one is doing anything. This will be the frustration of many people, not just me. ■ Vraj Pankhania, who came to the UK with his family from Kenya in 1969, is the founder and CEO of Westcombe Group, a wellknown UK development company. He is one of the country’s leading entrepreneurs and a renowned philanthropist. His group specialises in purchasing Grade Two listed buildings and restoring them to upmarket residential properties along with mixed use schemes and hotels. The day-to-day group operations are managed by his sons Kamal and Sunil. He lives in north London with his wife Joshna and his sons, daughters-in-law and four grandchildren.