Chief Executive of British Airways, Alex Cruz has called on Home Secretary Sajid Javid to take action towards what has been descirbed as the ‘border farce’, with passengers routinely facing ‘unacceptable’ two-hour queues at Heathrow Airport’s passport control.
Writing in the Times newspaper, Mr Cruz said “Two-hour queues are fast becoming the norm for those visiting from outside the European Economic Area (EEA), despite a target of no more than a 45-minute wait.” He added, “Even EEA citizens wait almost an hour.”
Mr Cruz said Heathrow airport has missed its targets for non-EEA arrivals more than 6,000 times this year, describing the situation as “significantly worse” than elsewhere on the continent. The BA Cheif Executive wrote in the Times, “We need more than UK-only lanes to show Britain is open for business, and that includes Sajid Javid taking immediate action to address this border farce once and for all.”
In response to Mr Cruz, a spokesperson for the Home Office has said “The vast majority of people who arrive at Heathrow get through the border within our service standards.”
“We are making sure Border Force has the resources it needs and are deploying 200 additional staff at Heathrow over the summer.”
“We understand the frustration for those who have experienced longer waits and remain fully committed to working with our partners to reduce waiting times as far as is possible.”
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