Saturday 4th of May 2024
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going for gold .....

going for gold .....

Britain's border control was under fire Saturday as lawmakers and passengers alike voiced frustration about lengthy queues at London's main airport three months out from the Olympics.

Huge queues at passport control were reported on Thursday and Friday at London Heathrow, the world's busiest international passenger airport, which will be the main gateway for the 2012 Games that get under way on July 27.

Passengers waited for up to an hour on Friday to go through the checks at Terminal 5, while there were two-hour queues on Thursday for passport holders from outside the 30-country European Economic Area (EEA).

Britain's immigration minister Damian Green is to be grilled by the Home Affairs Select Committee scrutiny panel of lawmakers on the situation.

"There is a real problem," committee chairman Keith Vaz told BBC radio.

"I'm not saying we should abandon checks, but it's a choice for the government -- you either look at the way you deal with people when they arrive at Heathrow or you recruit more staff.

"This is not just about the Olympics: this is about what happens before and after, it's about Heathrow as a world-class airport and it's about our reputation -- and we need to make sure we get it sorted."

BAA, which owns and operates Heathrow, said the queues were "unacceptable" and that it was urgently taking up the issue with the Home Office interior ministry.

"There isn't a trade-off between strong border security and a good passenger experience -- the Home Office should be delivering both," a spokeswoman said.

Heathrow is the official host airport for the 2012 Olympics, with around 80 percent of all visitors to the Games expected to pass through its five terminals.

Earlier this month a seperate parliamentary committee warned that Heathrow may struggle to cope with extra passengers during the event.

It suggested the border agency had insufficient funds to ensure all passport lanes would be open.

Brian Moore, head of the Home Office's Border Force body, said they were "fully prepared" for busy periods during the Games and had "well-rehearsed plans" in place.

Asked how he would feel if come the Olympics, there were four-hour queues to enter Britain, he said: "If that is necessary in light of the threats and risks that we face at that time, then so be it. We will not compromise on safety."

He told BBC television that EEA passengers were getting through within 25 minutes or less, 95 percent of the time.

"Queues are caused by a number of factors, including incorrect flight manifests or early or late planes which result in bunching," he said.

"The important factor is to have staff that are flexibly deployed in the right numbers at the right times and this is what we always try to do."

Alastair Campbell, ex-prime minister Tony Blair's former communications chief, was among those caught up in Thursday's queues.

"If this is what Heathrow T5 border queue is like on an average Thursday, Olympic athletes should think about coming soon," he said.

Delayed passenger Leo Lourdes told BBC television: "The queue just keeps stretching on and all you see is despondent faces.

"It was quite embarrassing, especially with the Olympics coming up. I know in the UK we have a reputation for queueing but Terminal 5 were going for gold with this one. It's literally the longest queue I've ever seen!"

Heathrow Under Fire As Passengers Stuck In Massive Queues

 

no picture recording cock-up please....

 

Emails suggest UK Border Agency and Heathrow owner in war of words over immigration delays
LAST UPDATED AT 07:57 ON Mon 30 Apr 2012

IMMIGRATION officials have tried to stop travellers taking pictures of people queuing for passport checks at Heathrow amid claims of a war of words between the airport's owners BAA and government officials over lengthy delays in arrivals halls.

On Saturday, BAA handed out a leaflet to passengers waiting at immigration apologising for the "very long delays". The leaflets said people entering the country "deserved a warmer welcome" and suggested travellers should complain to the Home Office.

Read more: http://www.theweek.co.uk/transport/46557/cover-border-staff-try-ban-pictures-heathrow-queues#ixzz1tW6Ud9Bp

 

blame the rain...

New arrivals at Heathrow's Terminal 5 said they waited more than two hours to be allowed into the country amid warnings that the airport was near breaking point. Travellers have been confronted with empty border control desks, with the delays exacerbated by the failure of iris scanners brought in to speed up the processing of passports.

Analysis by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism reveals that the iris recognition immigration system, which scans the unique patterns of travellers' eyes to confirm their identities, has cost just over £9m – but has only been used 4.7 million times, at a cost of £2 per passenger scanned.

The problems have intensified fears that London airports could struggle to cope with the tens of thousands of extra visitors heading to the capital for this summer's Olympics.

The Government insisted yesterday that urgent action was under way to plug the gaps at Heathrow – and pointed to recent prolonged rainfall as the reason for the disruption at Britain's busiest airport. 

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/rain-blamed-for-latest-chaos-in-heathrow-queues-7697848.html

yeah, blaim the rain in spain...

a "brilliant" hoax...

There is an email doing the rounds at the moment on "airport security" in Israel:

 


If they were installed throughout the world's airports we could all fly with confidence.Israel's new 'Cutting Edge' Airport Security device...


securitybooth



 TEL AVIV, Israel - The Israelis are developing an airport security device that eliminates the privacy concerns that come with full-body scanners. It's an armoured booth you step into that will not X-ray you, but will detonate any explosive device you may have on your person.
 Israel sees this as a win-win situation for everyone, with none of this crap about racial profiling. It will also eliminate the costs of long and expensive trials.
 You're in the airport terminal and you hear a muffled explosion. Shortly thereafter, an announcement: "Attention all standby passengers, El Al is proud to announce a seat available on flight 670 to London . Shalom!" BRILLIANT.

---------------------------------

But one does not have to dig deep to find:

http://www.snopes.com/crime/deserts/booth.asp

Origins:   In various forms, this piece about a new airport security device that blows up those carrying explosives concealed about their persons began circulating on the Internet in March 2010. The most popular form taken by the item (as an Israeli security measure) has been hitting inboxes since September 2010. Earlier versions include this one from March 2010:Airport Security - a Simple Solution 

Simple indeed & technologically doable this minute... I love elegant solutions to "complex" problems... My engineer friend (ex-NASA project director) has what I think is the near perfect solution for airport security! 

Here's a solution to all the controversy over full-body scanners at the airports. Have a booth that you can step into that will not X-ray you, but will detonate any explosive device you may have on you. 

It would be a win-win for everyone, and there would be none of this crap about racial profiling and this method would eliminate long lines at airports & long and expensive trials. Justice would be fair and swift.. Case Closed!And this version from April 2010:
Best idea I have heard in a long time.
Whoever thought of this is a genius!
Here's a solution to all the controversy over using full-body scanners in airports:
A concrete room that one must enter that will not X-ray you, but will detonate any explosive device you may have on you.
We could call it "The Boom Box"...

The problems manifest to employing such technology in the real world should be obvious. It's not yet possible to build sensors capable of detecting every kind of bomb — while there are machines that effectively screen for certain types of explosives, they don't twig to everything. A "blast booth" therefore would detect and deal with only some explosive threats, not all of them. 

Further, such a device wouldn't begin to address the threat posed by bombs assembled after the checkpoint from various components. Also, even a well-armored booth isn't guaranteed to contain every blast — the magnitude of the explosion would be dictated by the type and size of explosive device detonated within it, which means there would be a risk of injury and even death to passengers and airport personnel in the immediate vicinity of such a booth when a terrorist's bomb was set off. 

Finally, there's the pesky matter of targeting only those who have secreted explosive devices about their persons and no one else. People who have pacemakers, for example, could easily trigger whatever bomb sniffer is used by the booth to detect explosive or otherwise suspicious materials, resulting in someone's treasured and wholly innocuous uncle being blown to smithereens. Likewise, those who carry a supply of nitroglycerin as a heart medicine could end up blasted into the hereafter by a sensor calibrated to pick up that substance's chemical signature. And, if due to those concerns, nitroglycerin were eliminated from the items being screened for, the ill-intentioned would quickly begin fashioning their bombs of it, secure in the knowledge that such devices of destruction would pass unmolested through the security process. 

 

meanwhile, scanned in australia...

CONTROVERSIAL full body scanners due to be introduced in airports next month will identify prosthesis wearers, including breast cancer survivors and transgender passengers.
Earlier this year the federal government announced that the new scanners to be installed in eight international terminals would be set to show only a generic stick figure image to protect passengers' privacy.
But documents released under freedom of information show that in meetings with stakeholders, Office of Transport Security representatives confirmed the machines would detect passengers wearing a prosthesis.
This week Breast Cancer Network Australia said it had alerted its 70,000 members that prosthesis wearers should carry a letter from their doctor and speak to security staff before passing through the body scanner to ensure discreet treatment. While breast implants would not be detected, prosthetic breasts used by those who have had a mastectomy will be.
During the meetings, OTS officials confirmed the situation would also apply to transgender passengers.



Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/travel/travel-news/scanners-will-display-prosthetics-and-identify-transgender-travellers-20120610-204g9.html#ixzz1xR7Cg000

computerised ticketing...

Unless you're a 20 something with a degree in computerising or have been coached about 126 times in the minuties of ticketing online, you would know that buying a plane ticket these days is somewhat difficult. The websites from most airlines require you to jump through hoops with increasing difficulty that take about half an hour to complete, by this time the seat you wanted has gone or the internet has gone down. You may not know, but my guess is that the airlines sell their seats to the highest bidders in a weird auction, and as the plane fills up, you need to fork out more cash. 

Then you have to go through the motion of airport security, which is not small potatoes these days. If the anti-drug dog does not bite you in the groin, you're lucky. The full body scan (see at top) will reveal your titanium knees, your articulated hip replacement, and your metallic prostate. Then they prod you with a wand that whistles non-stop. Your iron tablets are giving too much resonance. 

Back then in circa 1975, Mad magazine was pre-empting self-ticketing:

self-ticketing