Air Travel - Carry On Luggage - British Airports

I have been through Heathrow a number of times either to stop in London, as I have an office there, or to connect to other destinations, most recently to Beirut at Christmas and South Africa in early February. I have been amazed at the way passengers, who are connecting to other flights, are treated as they work their way off their flight from outside Britain to a connecting flight somewhere else.

Here is the scenario that repeats itself hundreds and hundreds of times each day British international airports. A passenger boards their flight in Asia, Africa, Europe or North America. They are not told by their airline that if they are connecting in the United Kingdom they will only be able to transit through the airport with ONE small bag (less than the 22 inch accepted international size) and that that means ONE bag! No purse. No computer bag, no matter how small. So they arrive tired and hurry down a gauntlet of lines and are accosted by what I would characterize as over zealous low paid airport workers who force these tired passengers to either consolidate that small purse into a small bag or exit security, go through immigration, go to the airline counter and check the bag.

I have watched people cry is desperation as they realize they will miss their connecting flights because of having to leave the queue, go through the immigration line, check a bag, go back through security, etc. all because one tiny purse, when crammed into a small bag makes that bag too big and therefore unacceptable. I have seen people argue and yell and threaten never to come back “to this country again!” because of the hassle these airport people are putting them through. I have observed the trauma and humiliation of senior citizens on their knees trying to re-pack a suitcase only to fail. I have even talked to immigration officials who state that hundreds of passengers who did not intend to enter the United Kingdom are forced to enter the country so they can check a bag. How is that for security?

It is really amazing to watch. I am going to video tape it next time I go through so people on the outside can watch the abuse these folks are going through. And for what reason? I honestly don’t know. And neither do thousands of passengers that experience this treatment. The airline they arrived to Britain in doesn’t have a one bag rule. And the airline they are leaving Britain on doesn’t either. So what is the problem? And I am not talking about the huge bags some folks bring. I am talking about the generally accepted practice of allowing one carry on of regulation size AND a purse and/or computer case.

As I have talked to my colleagues in business here in North America, as well as business partners in Europe, Africa and Asia, we all agree that IF we can avoid Britain as a place to connect we will. We all travel over 200,000 miles a year and Frankfurt, Amsterdam, Brussels and Paris are becoming our connecting airports of choice.

It is very interesting to me that so many people are working to encourage tourism to Britain and their very efforts are diminished by impractical and heavy handed carry on policies for passengers just traveling through.

Visit Britain will have to be avoid Britain until some of this gets resolved.