London Heathrow Airport Passenger Reviews and Heathrow Airport Traveller Reports

Airline Reviews

Airline Seat Reviews

Airport Reviews

I arrived at T5 on Wednesday 25 April as non-EU citizen from South Africa. I brought my elderly mother along. However, at Border Control we had to queue for 2.5 hours, with control officers leaving their desks often for coffee or breaks although there were many passengers waiting. I booked a shuttle service over Internet and our driver left the arrivals hall since we did not show up after 2-3 hours though the flight was not delayed. I had to call the company from the arrivals hall, and they finally charged me 20 pounds extra for inconvenience.

Whoever is responsible for the queues on 25th April morning should be ashamed of themselves. Expecting weary, often hungry and thirsty passengers to stand in line for 1, 2, 3 hours is just inhumane and unheard of! I travel to and from the USA at least 5 times per year, and T5 is the worst border control experience I have ever had by far. I could not believe the chaos and torture that awaited for me when I landed, just an absolute joke that it has been allowed to go on. One day, a fluke - any more than that, sheer neglect.

5:40am arrival on Cathay to T3. 15-20 minute walk from the gate to customs is excessive - a Skytrain is sorely needed. Customs queue was relatively short at about 20-30 minutes due to early arrival. Baggage claim was also fairly quick for the same reason. Terminal interior drab and not spacious all round. Overall very unimpressive for the world's busiest international airport.

Arrived back at T5 last night. Transit took an age. No escalators working and then a queue that snaked all the way back from passport to the far end of the terminal. Olympic adverts everywhere - seriously need to get act together.

Just arrived on a flight from Madrid, with BA, into T5! What a mess! Queue for passports snaked all the way back to the escalators, several thousand people, no fast track for business class or first class passengers, no Iris and no chipped passport readers working! 5 immigration officers on duty when we joined the queue, and 3 more trying to police the irate passengers - by the time we reached the front of the queue there was only 1 immigration officer on duty even though there were 500 people behind us! T5 is a national disgrace!

Regularly travel to T5 for short and long haul travel. Since Christmas, queues to get through passport control have seriously diminished the great T5 and BA travel experience. Arrived last night and joined long queue out of the immigration hall and back to the arrival gates. No sign of BAA airport managers, just junior temps trying to control the crowds. Cannot understand how the Border Agency and BAA can allow this queuing to happen. Airport is full of adverts telling us that they are ready for the Olympics. Real shame as travel through T5 used to be a real pleasure. On the bright side experience with the airline (BA) remains first class - shame the airport operator lets them down.

Arrived back from Istanbul, T5 was chaos at passport control with a queue that resembled something at Disneyworld snaking all round the area. Used e-passport queue which took an hour. Clearly woefully understaffed - what a welcome to the UK for foreign visitors - what it will look like during the Olympics does not bare thinking about!

How will T5 cope with the Olympics? Arrived T5 April 17 from Cape Town. Plane landed at 6.50, escalators were closed because they were worried about masses people of hurting themselves on it, so only lifts available to a throng of people. Stood in Immigration line for 90 mins with 3 hungry sleep-deprived kids - partly because there were only 6 out of 24 terminals open. Immigration official said that this was normal for busy periods! Definitely one of the worst terminals for arriving.

Terminal 5 is a great asset to both British Airways and Heathrow. It is quick, pleasant and quiet with a brilliant selection of food and retail outlets, the waiting areas are very pleasant also. We always choose to fly BA over Virgin due to T5 especially compared to T3 which Virgin uses.

It is appalling how badly the system followed by Heathrow T4 to control passengers' bags works! 5 people sitting around chatting while 1 is leisurely checking customers' bags that are removed for additional checking for no apparent reason. Unbelievably poor experience which is underlined by the employees' suggestion to 'not use their terminal if u don't like it'. I guess airlines are happy to have their customers treated in this way and they do nothing to improve it.

One of the worst if not the worst major airport out there. Passport control lines at Heathrow are horrendous. Since all employees are unionized, they make sure they take their bathroom, lunch, snack, stress relief and other brakes, so it is common to see 2 booths manned out of 50 while passengers are hoarded as cattle into lines circling the terminal.

MAN-LHR-SIN-LHR-MAN. Used T1 for MAN flights, T3 for SIN ones. T1 arrival good, and T3 departure and security checks were cleared quickly with minimal fuss. T3 does feel claustrophobic airside, but good shop selection and used lounge which was good for money paid. Different story arriving T3, can only echo other comments. Passport control is a mess - IRIS working but big queue, other self-scan gates not working. Luggage belt failed 5 mins into delivery due to strollers jamming it - passengers eventually cleared the blockage when it became apparent no baggage handlers would do so after 20 minutes. After another 45 mins bags arrived. T1 departure to MAN fine apart from the need to clear 2 security checks for the internal flight with an eye scan check taken at each station, this is when no check needed for international flights? Given T3 experience, can't see how it will cope with Olympic traffic unless problems addressed.

Travel to and from T3 and T5 all the time. T3 is a bit of a hassle and security takes a while but I always use the speedy queue. The thing that makes the difference is people who know what they are doing at security. Terminal 5 is very quick and you can go from club world or first desks straight through to the Concorde lounge almost instantly. Travelling with family to Newark, NJ was very easy. It's the airlines that can make or break a journey, and every single American airline that leaves Heathrow is appalling. Coming back into the UK is usually quick if you are a British citizen. Using e passport gates is very easy.

Flew out through T3. A dump. You enter airside through a massive retail area and there is insufficient seating. The low ceilings create a real claustrophobic atmosphere. If you want breakfast etc, eat landslide. The outlets are a lot less busy and a lot more pleasant.

Arrived at T3 from HEL, flew out from T5 to MAN. Immigration queues satisfyingly short. Renovation work means the T3-T5 bus trip isn't the most glamorous, but they're making the best of it. BA Galleries Lounge at T5 could do with some more inspiring food choices. A long time since I've been through LHR, and a few horror stories had me scared, but this was a painless experience entirely.

Travelled through Terminal 5 on 31 Mar arriving at 2.15 pm from Canada. Immigration Control was horrible. It took 2.5 hours to clear through the non-EU, non-UK queue. On the way home a week later, I was stuck in one of the lifts from the Underground to Departures level for 25 minutes. We also had to board a bus to a remote stand for departure. For a new terminal, using a remote stand for a Long Haul, International flight is quite poor. Otherwise, the terminal is really nice! Clean, lots of food, shopping and plenty of seats. The first contact arriving is the Immigration Hall. It's gives a really poor impression.

Flew in and out over Easter weekend. Inbound the immigration queues were horrendous as predicted. No excuse - just poor planning and management. An embarrassment to be British if this is people's first impression of the UK.

Arrived at T5 from MAN, then T1 to WAW return. Mid-morning outward flight; no major problems before departure, but the flight departed 35 minutes late. Facilities still good after security. Staff unusually friendly and polite. 3.5 hour layover upon return, to await flight to MAN. After my connecting flight was called, I learned I had used the wrong "flight connections" channel, thus missing passport control after landing from WAW. Customs and security staff were understanding and helpful, and ensured I did not miss my connection. Overall, my impression is that customer service is improving at LHR. Cleanliness much better than my last flight from T1.

T5 is a pleasant experience, modern and spacious, though would like to see more eateries landside. Terminal 3 - cramped, no natural light, long walk to the gates. T4 and T1 average. Iris is used at immigration and costs nothing to add to your UK passport. Good links to and from London and frequent public transport to the nearby hotels. Unfortunately getting between terminals is a real pain in the backside. The bus service takes a long time and is every half hour or so, the trains only runs every 15 mins leaving you stranded on the featureless miserable platform drumming your fingers if you have a tight connection.

I have travelled through Heathrow twice in the last few weeks (T3, T5). In most respects the airport is fine, and in particular departure security queues are much quicker than a few years ago. The problem is immigration control. On one occasion the queues were bad, on the other, appalling - even for EU passport holders. Lots of desks were unstaffed and the queue for the new e-passport gates seems to take even longer than the queue for the staffed desks. I travel around Europe for work almost every week and UK airports consistently have the worst immigration queues anywhere.

I fly into T5 regularly and transit to T1 for a domestic flight. Security is a nightmare. There are 10-12 scanners at T1 security, only 3 or 4 are ever manned, no matter how big the queue. Same story at the photographic check, 6 camera positions, only 1 is ever manned. If you arrive on a flight that is late you have no chance of making your connection if less than 2 hours. Security staff are generally very rude. Rules seem to change on a daily basis.

I flew into Terminal 5 en route from California (via Dallas) to India. Navigating through Flight Connections was easy and I was through security in under 10 minutes. It is impressive in size, although was surprised how "unfinished" some of the architecture is. Impressed by the size of the terminal and the large number of shops and restaurants. My biggest complaint is that T5 is simply not designed for long-haul transit passengers. Even if you do find a relatively quiet area there is a constant barrage of PA announcements. Since I was not a premium passenger, I could not use the lounges, and there are no pay lounges. Seating is uncomfortable and hard. It was such a contrast with an airport like Singapore Changi.

Flew into T5 on March 7, mid-afternoon, to find passport control lines extremely long for non-UK passport holders. There were only 2, then 3 passport officers for plane loads of visitors. There were 24 un-manned desks. The EU, UK, and Iris Scan lines had passport officers and no lines. The Fast-Track line was closed, which made no sense to those who had paid for that service. It took 2.5 hours for our group to get through. Passengers grumbled quietly and behaved patiently. No special assistance offered to travelers with young children and babies. I did not feel welcome at all to the UK with that queue, and do not recommend coming back!

Last week used T5 for 2 arrivals and 1 departure. No lines for check-in or security, well organised boarding called by row. Toilets clean and well stocked. Eateries are good quality, plentiful and not crowded. The only minus was immigration line on arrival. First time I was out of the terminal within 15 minutes after flight, next time I queued for 35 minutes or so. Bags are always waiting on the belt.

Flew into T5 on March 9th, 2012 and spent nearly 2 hours at passport control. They had only 2 people in the Non-EU, Non-UK line. At one point, around 2pm, both employees just got up and left (coffee break)? For the next 15 mins, we all stood in horror as there was nobody! The crowd of people began yelling and pleading for somebody to return. I've honestly never seen such a mis-managed airport passport control in my life! Whoever manages the Customs at Heathrow is seriously damaging perception of Heathrow, BA, and London.

Flew into Terminal 5, Jan 2012. Waited in the Immigration queue for 1.5 hours! The UK passport holders booths had already processed everyone in the UK line and were sitting around talking while non-UK passport holders area had only two manned booths. Why some supervisor couldn't move workers to the Non-UK side is beyond me. After an hour, an Australian man started screaming to see a supervisor. When that supervisor came over to the line, she told him in no uncertain terms that they only had two officers. This "problem" has serious repercussions - business is being affected, it makes me think twice about spending my tourist dollar in a country that apparently just doesn't care.

If you experience any problems submitting comments on the above link, please use our general   Feedback Page