Routine two hour-waits for passport checks at London’s Heathrow are unacceptable and improvements are needed if Britain wants to show it is open for business after Brexit, the boss of British Airways said.
Writing to The Times newspaper on Monday, BA chief executive Alex Cruz said that queues at border controls at Heathrow, Europe’s busiest airport, were “significantly worse” than at other major world airports.
“What kind of message does this send, as we try to build links outside the EU?” Cruz wrote.
He called on Home Secretary Sajid Javid to take “immediate action to address this border farce”.
His intervention came after reports that Britain was considering setting up designated lanes for British passport holders at UK airports after Britain leaves the EU on March 29 next year.
Cruz Argued that tackling lengthy queues should be a priority for Theresa May’s government rather than designated lanes for UK passport holders post-Brexit.
“Two-hour queues are fast becoming the norm for those visiting from outside the European Economic Area (EEA), despite a target of no more than a 45-minute wait,” said Cruz.
He added: “Even EEA citizens wait almost an hour. This is unacceptable, yet Nick Jariwalla, the head of Border Force at Heathrow, said recently that things were unlikely to change, and it was unreasonable for his team to be expected to meet their targets.”
British Airways is owned by IAG, the airline group which also operates Aer Lingus, Iberia and Vueling.
Cruz, who succeeded Keith Williams as CEO in April 2016, said the airport has missed its target for non-EEA arrivals more than 6,000 times this year.
“Queues are significantly worse than at many other major world airports. What kind of message does this send, as we try to build links outside the EU?”
A number of arriving passengers at Terminal 4 were forced to wait three hours before being processed owing to “lack of staffing” during England’s second-round game against Colombia on July 3.
A Home Office spokesman said: “The vast majority of people who arrive at Heathrow get through the border within our service standards.”
“But we understand the frustration for those who have experienced longer waits and remain fully committed to working with our partners to reduce waiting times as far as is possible.”
“We are making sure Border Force has the resources it needs and are deploying 200 additional staff at Heathrow over the summer.”
