The delay at Heathrow Airport due to British Airways increasing connection times.

The stress levels at Heathrow Terminal 5 are expected to decrease, however, certain British Airways customers may experience extended wait times for their connecting flights.

The airline plans to extend the minimum connection time (MCT) at Heathrow from one hour to 75 minutes. This change aims to decrease the likelihood of missed connecting flights, which can be both a risk and a financial burden for passengers.

The airline’s goal is to reduce the number of stranded or rebooked passengers by making longer connections.

Unfortunately, this will result in extended travel durations for individuals transferring at the central airport, placing the national airline at a competitive disadvantage in comparison to other European competitors. For instance, the current wait time for passengers transferring between Star Alliance flights at Vienna airport is three times longer than before.

Passengers traveling from Nice to Los Angeles will no longer be able to reach California during lunchtime if they transit through London. Until January 8th, those on the initial flight from southern France had a 65 minute window to make their connecting flight with British Airways departing at 10:10am, resulting in an arrival time of 1:25pm. While it is still possible to arrive at lunchtime by connecting through Amsterdam with KLM, Frankfurt with Lufthansa, or Paris with Air France, the earliest arrival time with BA is 4:10pm.

A traveler departing from Berlin and wanting to catch the British Airways flight to Miami in the afternoon will now have to depart from the city 70 minutes earlier than before.

A representative from British Airways stated that, based on input from customers, there will be an increase in the minimum connection time for certain flights at Heathrow T5.

“This will provide customers with additional time to catch their following flight and decrease the chance of them missing their connecting service, which we are aware can be extremely frustrating.”

The minimum time for connections between Terminals 3 and 5 remains at 90 minutes, with a 10-minute bus ride required.

British Airways has reached out to passengers who made bookings before the change and have connections less than 75 minutes in duration, providing them with alternative connections as an option.

Terminal 5 opened almost 16 years ago as the solution to British Airways’ big structural problem: most intercontinental flights used Terminal 4, while Terminal 1 served domestic and most European flights. Connections between the two were fraught.

The new £2.5 billion construction located on the western side of the airfield proved to be the resolution. Despite initial challenges, Terminal 5 is currently functioning smoothly for British Airways and its partner airline, Iberia.

The initial detection of the modification was made by the website for frequent flyers, Head for Points. Its editor, Rob Burgess, stated that British Airways has openly expressed its goal of decreasing flight delays at Heathrow and preventing connecting passengers from getting trapped in Flight Connections.

Instead of just increasing connecting times, it would be more effective to address the underlying issue at Heathrow. By doing so, BA can better compete with other airlines, such as Zurich and Frankfurt, which offer shorter connecting times for transit passengers.

The minimum connection times for international-to-international flights at European competitors of British Airways and Heathrow have been reduced.

British Airways, Virgin Atlantic, and other airlines that have layover passengers at Heathrow Airport are facing a new potential challenge to their transit operations: the United Kingdom’s Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA).

The new permit is now required for Qatari travelers, and Gulf and Jordanian citizens will need to obtain the permit by the following month.

The government has announced that all “non-visa nationals” flying to the UK will be required to have an ETA by the end of the year, even if they are only transiting for two hours.

Passengers transferring between international flights at major airports outside the US only require documentation that is valid for their final destination.

Source: independent.co.uk