London Heathrow Airport

Landed at terminal 5 at 6.15am on 3rd November on a BA flight from Miami. To say we were "packed in like sardines" on the monorail to the immigration and baggage reclaim area is a massive understatement too many people for the area to cope with. Whilst waiting for our cases I visited the ladies toilets. I have to ask what goes on there over night? Certainly no cleaning. They were in a disgusting condition very dirty the floor the toilets everywhere. Empty soap dispensers. I am English and quite well travelled but have never seen airport cloakrooms so bad when arriving home. Just imagine what impression this gives visitors to this country the moment they arrive here.

Arrived back into UK on 29 October. Immigration improving for UK passport holders but there needs to be more electronic gates in Terminal 3. 5 is not sufficient to absorb times of high usage. Luggage reclaim was slower than expected.

First time through new T2 and not impressed. Arrived on Air Canada around 10pm. Took forever to taxi to a gate followed by a walk the length of an upper floor of the terminal followed by a very long escalator down to a lower floor and an equally long walk back again. Finally reached passport control. Usual lengthy line for non-EU passports. Fortunately I have a UK passport and headed to the line for the machines (chip passports). Only 3-4 out of maybe 8-9 machines were operational and turns out it was a lot quicker to walk up to an agent where there were no queues (as an aside why are there so many desks for EU-passports that seem very lightly used when the number of desks for non-EU passport seems so inadequate - even in a new terminal?). On return to Canada was fortunate to be able to use priority check-in (very good) and avoid the chaos of general economy check-in. More long walks. AC business lounge is close to the gate miles beyond the main shopping area (there are a couple of shops near the gates but very limited selection). Was expecting a big improvement over T3 but layout seems very poorly thought out. Too bad.

I used Terminal 3 on the evening of 16 October taking the Oman Air flight to Muscat. Given that this is the oldest terminal still in use at Heathrow it was not bad at all. Security was particularly worthy of comment being quick enough (despite the usual clueless customers) and the guy who dealt with me was actually very pleasant. My bag was selected for extra screening - I have no problem with that - which was done swiftly and with some cheerful conversation. I appreciate that Heathrow operates close to full capacity and it does not take much to make it seize up but based purely on this experience there was nothing to stop me recommending the place.

Just awful. Check in system failed. Security incompetent and rude. Fast track is a joke. Third world airport but no one seems to care.

I recently transited on a long haul trip from the US to India. I flew with BA using their hub at Heathrow Terminal 5. I was very impressed and happy with the terminal. I saw Heathrow after almost a decade and the improvement is quite marked. Terminal Five is a magnificent terminal ultramodern with excellent cleanliness and facilities with very professional and helpful staff. The airport has an excellent selection of shops and restaurants. What I like most about Heathrow were the staff especially the purple coated helpers whose job is to assist and guide passengers. They should have more quiet sleeping areas at the airport. Right now the only sleeping areas in the airport offer hard benches suitable for resting not sleeping. I also think lounges for pay for the use of Economy passengers would be a help to make the place for attractive for long haul flyers. All in all a good airport experience a huge improvement from a decade ago.

Arrived at new terminal 2 on 15 October. Gate was not ready even though the terminal is not yet fully operational. No ground crew to install chocks etc. Massive long walk to immigration through mile long passages and the longest escalators in the world. Only 2 staff at immigration and biometric machines were not working. How badly designed is this terminal! Why park the planes miles away - I would much prefer buses. Heathrow generally is a disgrace but this new terminal will make is even worse if that is possible.

LHR T5 - Washington Dulles 29 Sept returning 14 October. I read the reports about T5 and wonder whether I have travelled to a different Terminal. Yes - there are tons of unnecessary retail outlets (do they ever make any money ?). Yes - there may be a bit of a queue at security. And exactly what airport doesn't have a queue at security in these modern times ? BUT - if you travel to ANY US port of entry (Washington Newark LAX Chicago Miami etc) you will see just how good Terminal 5 actually is. Alright - it's no Changi at Singapore but it's pretty darn good. Going out we had no queue at bag drop a minimal queue at security and found there are plenty of quiet corners to find seats away from the stretch of retails outlets. Coming back on 13th October we had to get the shuttle train to passport control and baggage reclaim but were through the electronic passport control claimed our baggage got our car from the Meet and Greet in the Short Term car park and were on the M25 heading North in 45 minutes. No complaints from me about Heathrow Terminal 5.

Terminal 2 is a nightmare - new terminal that does not deliver! Long! long! walks from aircraft to central area and no airbridge operators 2 out of 4 arrivals in 2 weeks.

Transit through Terminal 5 is an ordeal and a dreadful welcome for visitors to our country. The management of passengers through security is nothing short of disgraceful. The airport management at senior level should decide what is more important a stress-free passage for passengers through security or to continue to open more retail outlets. At the moment it appears that the emphasis is to get passengers to spend more at the retail outlets than to establish a stress-free passage through security. With good logistical management this problem could be avoided.