janisj

Now that BAA has sealed off airprort forecourts, looks like the days of JustAirports may be numbered. What a shame.

travelgirl2

janisj - can you explain what you mean, please? Does this mean that any airport car service cannot wait for your arrival? By forecourt, do you mean the area where the drivers wait with signs or the outside area where they park? Thanks. I've used justairports a couple of times and liked them.

janisj

I only know what I've read on-line in the UK papers - but it seems cars are being banned from the approaches to all UK airports. Passengers have to be dropped off remotely and bused to the terminal. I guess a car service might still work - but w/o the convenience of "door to door" service.

Maybe someone "on the ground" in GB can tell us how it is working.

icithecat

Oh Carp. I was afraid this would happen. The world over, undergound trains, subways and busses having to stop a mile out, so that travellers have to be cavity searched before they can be bussed to the terminals.

It is all becoming so tiresome.

The jeep at Glasgow did not have a chance of providing anything but a minor inconveniance, burning itself up, but air traffic everywhere is penalized.

When will sanity prevail.

The IRA focused on pubs, did England close all pubs?

Just a rant.

lyb

icithecat,

I totally agree with you..it is so reactionary...As I've said before, let's hope a woman never uses a tampon to set off a bomb..or air travel will really become crazy.

tomassocroccante

So the next attempt will have to be at the "drop off-shuttle bus shelter" that will have to be built to accomodate the crowds.

Well, forty years ago or so a group blew up a bomb at La Guardia airport in NYC. (I believe it was FALN, but can't remember exactly.) Anyway, that was the end of storage lockers in airports (and many train stations.)

Ultimately, the powers that be (government security operations, tourist boards, airlines) want to provide as much security and convenience as possible. When they fail on either mark (and they do), it's up to the public to let them know. When we have complaints (and we will), we have to go beyond the Fodor's forums.

flanneruk

janis:

I've never used justairports, but my experience of every other car company is that you have to walk with them to the short term car park when they collect you. I can't imagine justairports operate any differently, and I can't see how the new restrictions change anything for arriving passengers.

There'll clearly be changes for departing passengers, though the practicalities of this will take a few days to iron out and people shouldn't draw too many conclusions from the first few days' chaos.

BUT: if you're travelling to Heathrow in the next few days,there are bound to be searches of most arriving cars and significant congestion on all ncoming roads. The tube, Heathrow Express or Heathrow Connect will be far more reliable ways of getting to the airport. Ditto (more or less) all other London airports

rex

Not a word, here... about any of this...

http://www.baa.com/portal/page/Corpo...News+releases/

So much for cyber-information-distribution...

Best wishes,

Rex

Cowboy1968

BAA posted this information on its Heathrow website:
http://www.heathrowairport.com/

Important information

Following Saturday's terrorist incident at Glasgow Airport, additional security measures are in place at all BAA airports. Dropping off and picking-up in front of the airport is severely restricted and passengers are warned that there may be significant delays in reaching the terminal itself by car. BAA strongly recommends that passengers use public transport to get to the airport. Passengers using private cars will find it more convenient to use short term car parks to gain access to airport terminals.

icithecat

lyb.
Sorry, I really cannot go there.

Barbara

I read that taxis are OK. They are a form of public transportation after all.

kenderina

I used Just Airports last year, and yes, as flanner says he was parked on the short term car park when collecting me (he was able to collect me at the door because I have a disability, though). When coming to the airport from London, he left me at departures, not in the parking lot.
I don't know if it would be the same right now...

OReilly

I'm flying back from LHR on Wednesday. News as of this morning is that passenger must/should(?) be there 3 hours prior for Transatlantic flights, cars can drop passenger at the forecourt (in T3 it is already a bit of a distance from the front doors (change as of earlier this year), line-ups to be frisked to get into the airport may be an hour or longer gt;(

Other UK airports this morning were as described - access to terminal via bus from LT car park.

I'll let you know - things appear "fluid" at the moment.

flanneruk

By the way, there's not much point in discussing this at present.

With security at "critical", BAA don't put the details of where cars can stop on the web - partly for security reasons, but mainly because these things are changing all the time.

Taxis can't pick up and drop in the forecourt right now: who knows what the rules will be - and what provisions will be made for people with mobility problems - once things are a bit clearer, probably by the end of the week.

Sadly, experience with the IRA doesn't mean much. The IRA had clear (and perfectly legitimate, if muddle-headed)objectives, and were constrained by the need not to alienate their Irish and American paymasters by mass carnage. This shower just hate us: the more of us they kill, the happier they are. And if a few (or even a few thousand) Muslims die at the same time - well, it's their Muslim duty to get killed in the cause.

carla1183

They just can't make everyone happy. Sure it's reactionary, but they have to do something in response. Those bombs might not have caused more than a "minor inconvenience" but if they did nothing and a van parked in front of the airport tomorrow with an OK city size explosive we'd all be wondering why the airport didn't do more. Terrorism just creates lose lose situations.

bellini

I went by car to collect my daughter from Heathrow Terminal 4 yesterday (sun 1st July). I drove along the front of the terminal and stopped to collect daughter and bags. Although there were extra armed police on duty, no-one stopped me from driving along and pulling up to load daughter and bags and there were taxis coming and going the whole time.

julia_t

I took my daughter to Terminal 4 at Heathrow today.

Plenty of visibly armed police around, but there were taxis pulling up in front of the terminal. The valet parking was operating in the next lane. The top level of the short-stay carpark was mostly coned off, but there was plenty of parking below.

While we were queuing to check in (1 1/2 hours in Zone A) several announcements were made to say that certain buses were being allowed to drop off/collect passengers.

After my daughter went through security I returned to the car park. There were cars and taxis outside dropping off passengers. To be honest it didn't seem to be much different to any other time we have been to Heathrow, bar the extra police presence.

rex

Thanks for your "on the ground" report, julia...

The ideal is, of course, little or no, _visible_ change, but _effective_ new strategies.

The final approach to Cleveland airport today had two police set up to do "random vehicle stops". I didn't see them stop anyone, and they could not have done anything to stop a determined van...

...but if a vehicle _did_ fail to stop, in response to their orders, their radios could make a 20-30 second difference to law enforcement officers _inside_ the terminal. If a van were to be used to drop off motorcycle-based bomb-vest wearing suicidal jihadists... then SWAT team type officers might have enough warning to be prepared... to shoot to kill.

Given that the real threat is no longer to the <b>air<u>plane</u></b>... but rather to the <b>air<u>port</u></b> - - this is the first change I have seen in five years that makes me feel safer... not more endangered.

owain

I'd have thought it was pretty obvious that the situation will vary from airport to airport. Preventing uncontrolled vehicle access to a terminal will, in some cases, involve buses. In others, it's much easier, especially when the short stay car park is a separate building with a separate entrance, but close to the terminal.