5 ms·

Not if you're just transiting. Sterile transit just plain doesn't exist at US airports (or at least, didn't when I last checked, which was a few years ago - may

Not if you're just transiting. Sterile transit just plain doesn't exist at US airports (or at least, didn't when I last checked, which was a few years ago - maybe things are different now?), so changing planes takes bloody hours instead of minutes, and requires going through exit procedures and then coming back through security.

deleted 11y ago
[deleted]
Scoundreller 11y ago
Well, while going Canada->LHR->Schengen airport, I definitely had to go through UK security again, as well as passport control to connect to an "international" flight to France. I didn't even leave the terminal. "Everyone who boards an aircraft at Heathrow has to be security screened to UK government standards. Even if you've already been through security checks at another airport, we're obliged to screen you again before you fly from Heathrow." http://www.heathrowairport.com/heathrow-airport-guide/flight-connections/faqs#security http://www.heathrowairport.com/heathrow-airport-guide/flight... I guess when faced with the choice of taking a risk-based approach toward security, and applying an equal amount of security to all, they chose the latter. At least the UK lets you check through your bags, unlike the US.
- EliRivers 11y ago
  Fair enough. Maybe I'm spoiled by modern airports, which Heathrow definitely is not. When I change at modern airports, usually in Europe, I very rarely have to go out and back in again. In Geneva[1], the layout of the airport was essentially reconfigured around me to let me walk from one plane to the next. I was the only person doing it; I walked through empty glass-walled corridors, watching through the glass as other passengers went their various ways, guided by wall displays pointing me towards the next flight (no other flights on it; just mine) and at one point I got to a train platform cut in half by a glass wall. The other side was a hundred or so people, and when the train came, I was in one half, and they were in the other. We were likewise segregated at the destination platform. I walked all the way to the departure lounge before I reached a person, whose job was to let me in and not let anyone in the lounge leave through my private entrance. It was basically how you'd expect a modern airport to work; to know who on each flight needed to leave and who needed to be guided to another flight, and for the displays and corridors to provide it. [1] I think it was Geneva.
  - gpvos 11y ago
    Wow, that's almost Kafkaesque, but really neat.
saryant 11y ago
Only for international arrivals. Domestic->domestic or domestic->international transits usually don't require reclearing security (other than screwball airports like LAX that just don't have airside connections between every terminal).
david-given 11y ago
The last time I did a transit through Heathrow I was horrified to discover that they've stopped doing proper transit as well. Entry procedures and security, and it's not like Heathrow does this well at the best of times. At least I didn't have to pick up my luggage.
- walterbell 11y ago
  What happened to buses between terminals?
  - david-given 11y ago
    Luckily I didn't need to change terminal --- it was all T5 for me.
    - walterbell 11y ago
      Usually you can take a bus between terminals and transit without clearing UK immigration, just hand luggage security. It used to be the same for T5 in-terminal transit. Security check is needed because of variance in origin country security. UK border checks are so slow that I can't imagine them wanting the cost of processing transit traffic.
      - Alphasite_ 11y ago
        The automated gates are extremely fast.

deleted 11y ago

[deleted]

Scoundreller 11y ago

Well, while going Canada->LHR->Schengen airport, I definitely had to go through UK security again, as well as passport control to connect to an "international" flight to France. I didn't even leave the terminal. "Everyone who boards an aircraft at Heathrow has to be security screened to UK government standards. Even if you've already been through security checks at another airport, we're obliged to screen you again before you fly from Heathrow." http://www.heathrowairport.com/heathrow-airport-guide/flight-connections/faqs#security http://www.heathrowairport.com/heathrow-airport-guide/flight... I guess when faced with the choice of taking a risk-based approach toward security, and applying an equal amount of security to all, they chose the latter. At least the UK lets you check through your bags, unlike the US.

EliRivers 11y ago
Fair enough. Maybe I'm spoiled by modern airports, which Heathrow definitely is not. When I change at modern airports, usually in Europe, I very rarely have to go out and back in again. In Geneva[1], the layout of the airport was essentially reconfigured around me to let me walk from one plane to the next. I was the only person doing it; I walked through empty glass-walled corridors, watching through the glass as other passengers went their various ways, guided by wall displays pointing me towards the next flight (no other flights on it; just mine) and at one point I got to a train platform cut in half by a glass wall. The other side was a hundred or so people, and when the train came, I was in one half, and they were in the other. We were likewise segregated at the destination platform. I walked all the way to the departure lounge before I reached a person, whose job was to let me in and not let anyone in the lounge leave through my private entrance. It was basically how you'd expect a modern airport to work; to know who on each flight needed to leave and who needed to be guided to another flight, and for the displays and corridors to provide it. [1] I think it was Geneva.
- gpvos 11y ago
  Wow, that's almost Kafkaesque, but really neat.

saryant 11y ago

Only for international arrivals. Domestic->domestic or domestic->international transits usually don't require reclearing security (other than screwball airports like LAX that just don't have airside connections between every terminal).

david-given 11y ago

The last time I did a transit through Heathrow I was horrified to discover that they've stopped doing proper transit as well. Entry procedures and security, and it's not like Heathrow does this well at the best of times. At least I didn't have to pick up my luggage.

walterbell 11y ago
What happened to buses between terminals?
- david-given 11y ago
  Luckily I didn't need to change terminal --- it was all T5 for me.
  - walterbell 11y ago
    Usually you can take a bus between terminals and transit without clearing UK immigration, just hand luggage security. It used to be the same for T5 in-terminal transit. Security check is needed because of variance in origin country security. UK border checks are so slow that I can't imagine them wanting the cost of processing transit traffic.
    - Alphasite_ 11y ago
      The automated gates are extremely fast.