Heathrow

LONDON - A public sector strike in Britain next week threatens to paralyze operations at Heathrow, Europe's busiest airport. An estimated 2 million workers are expected to participate in a 24-hour walkout to protest changes in public sector pensions on Wednesday - billed as potentially the biggest union action since 1979. The lines at Heathrow's immigration counters are expected to be so long that passengers will need to be held on planes, and 12-hour delays for arriving passengers are likely, warned BAA, the airport's operator.

The owner of Heathrow Airport says border control officers are failing to meet their waiting time targets for non-EU passengers but are hitting the mark for carriers of EU passports. BAA Ltd. said Thursday that immigration officers had done worst at Terminal 5, the center of British Airways operations and the busiest terminal at the airport. British Airways has been vocal in criticizing the long waiting times some arriving passengers have endured. BAA's says 76 percent of non-EU passengers were cleared through Terminal 5 within 45 minutes, well short of the target of 95 percent.

Britain's immigration minister Damian Green says the government is taking action to address long waits at airport immigration lines amid further criticism from an airline executive. Green told BBC radio Tuesday that "of course there is a problem" and said "significant steps" would be taken. Green has said that Britain's border force would deploy extra staff at London's Heathrow Airport amid growing furor over snaking lines at the airport's immigration desks that some passengers claimed stretched for hours.

Britain's immigration minister Damian Green says the government is taking action to address long waits at airport immigration lines amid further criticism from an airline executive. Green told BBC radio Tuesday that "of course there is a problem" and said "significant steps" would be taken. Green has said that Britain's border force would deploy extra staff at London's Heathrow Airport amid growing furor over snaking lines at the airport's immigration desks that some passengers claimed stretched for hours.

LONDON - An airport operator and lawmakers Saturday called on the government to urgently address chaos at Britain's borders to prevent disruption for Olympic visitors. Concerns have been raised amid lengthy waits for passengers arriving at immigration desks from flights into the British capital, including complaints from passengers who faced long lines Friday at Heathrow's Terminal 5. BAA Ltd., which operates Heathrow and Stansted airports in London, said Britain's border agency was not providing enough staff to conduct the necessary passport and visa checks, causing the delays, and...

LONDON - British Airways PLC is shedding 1,000 jobs, putting 3,000 more employees on part-time work, and reducing the size of cabin crews at Heathrow in an effort to get the troubled airline’s finances back in order, a spokesman said. Paul Marston said the company is in “a very serious financial position’’ but is working hard to turn itself around. The job losses and part-time work, which he called voluntary, are the equivalent of cutting 1,700 positions. He declined to say how much the airline hopes to save.

LONDON — Retiree Richard Moore arrived at Heathrow with a suitcase of summer clothes for a Miami cruise only to be sent to Denver. Susan Danby wondered whether plans for a joint 50th birthday celebration in Las Vegas would be a losing bet. The start of a three-day strike by cabin crew at British Airways spurred chaos and passenger angst yesterday as union members promised more airline and rail walkouts in the coming weeks while Britain prepares...

When my husband's company offered to transfer him to its office in the United Kingdom, my main concern was our Airedale terriers, Abbey and Grace. "We can't leave the girls behind," I said, "but we're not putting them into quarantine. " Like many other pet owners, we were clueless about flying a dog overseas. It turns out that under rules launched in 2002 called the Pets Travel Scheme, vaccinated, microchipped pets can fly to European Union countries from the United States and Canada without spending six months in quarantine.

LONDON — Snowstorms and freezing temperatures shut down runways, train tracks, and highways across Europe yesterday, disrupting flights and leaving shivering drivers stranded on roadsides. Airports in Britain, Germany, France, Spain, the Netherlands, and Denmark reported cancellations or delays to flights. London’s Gatwick Airport reopened in late afternoon after 150 employees using dozens of snowplows worked to clear the runway, though officials warned flights would be limited.

The title of Alain de Botton’s latest book concisely describes the subject of this brief work of nonfiction. The airport in question is Heathrow in London — specifically, Terminal 5 — and the week that the author spent there was at the invitation of the airport’s owner, BAA, which wanted to showcase the new terminal. Thus, for “A Week at the Airport’’ London-based de Botton became an employee of BAA, which he refers to at one point as his “patron.’’ He could write about anything in the terminal; he was even given “explicit...

London's mayor warned Monday that long delays for passengers arriving at the city's largest airport risk damaging Britain's reputation in the run-up to this summer's Olympic Games. Boris Johnson wrote to Home Secretary Theresa May amid increasing concerns over lengthy lines at border control desks for those arriving at Heathrow Airport. Passengers have complained of frustrating delays, on some occasions of more than an hour, because of lengthy passport and visa checks and an apparent lack of border staff.

LONDON - An airport operator and lawmakers Saturday called on the government to urgently address chaos at Britain's borders to prevent disruption for Olympic visitors. Concerns have been raised amid lengthy waits for passengers arriving at immigration desks from flights into the British capital, including complaints from passengers who faced long lines Friday at Heathrow's Terminal 5. BAA Ltd., which operates Heathrow and Stansted airports in London, said Britain's border agency was not providing enough staff to conduct the necessary passport and visa...

LONDON - A public sector strike in Britain next week threatens to paralyze operations at Heathrow, Europe's busiest airport. An estimated 2 million workers are expected to participate in a 24-hour walkout to protest changes in public sector pensions on Wednesday - billed as potentially the biggest union action since 1979. The lines at Heathrow's immigration counters are expected to be so long that passengers will need to be held on planes, and 12-hour delays for arriving passengers are likely, warned BAA, the airport's operator.

LONDON — Travel problems eased in Britain yesterday after days of snow-related delays, with most services running normally at Heathrow Airport and on Eurostar trains. Across the Irish Sea, however, heavy snow shut Dublin Airport for several hours. The Irish airport suspended flights in the morning but reopened in the afternoon. Cleanup efforts in London were aided by a slight rise in temperature that melted much of the ice. Heathrow Airport said 90 percent of flights were operating.

LONDON — Managers at Heathrow Airport boasted last month that their snow team was working flat out to ensure the facility “will once again be prepared for the onset of winter.’’ Then a few inches of snow fell, and Europe’s busiest airport shut down. People slept on floors under foil blankets or were turned away outside terminals, Christmas travel plans in ruins. Flights were returning to normal yesterday, but the fallout continued, with Heathrow boss Colin Matthews renouncing his annual bonus as a gesture of contrition.

LONDON — Snowstorms and freezing temperatures shut down runways, train tracks, and highways across Europe yesterday, disrupting flights and leaving shivering drivers stranded on roadsides. Airports in Britain, Germany, France, Spain, the Netherlands, and Denmark reported cancellations or delays to flights. London’s Gatwick Airport reopened in late afternoon after 150 employees using dozens of snowplows worked to clear the runway, though officials warned flights would be limited.

LONDON — Travel problems eased in Britain yesterday after days of snow-related delays, with most services running normally at Heathrow Airport and on Eurostar trains. Across the Irish Sea, however, heavy snow shut Dublin Airport for several hours. The Irish airport suspended flights in the morning but reopened in the afternoon. Cleanup efforts in London were aided by a slight rise in temperature that melted much of the ice. Heathrow Airport said 90 percent of flights were operating.

The title of Alain de Botton’s latest book concisely describes the subject of this brief work of nonfiction. The airport in question is Heathrow in London — specifically, Terminal 5 — and the week that the author spent there was at the invitation of the airport’s owner, BAA, which wanted to showcase the new terminal. Thus, for “A Week at the Airport’’ London-based de Botton became an employee of BAA, which he refers to at one point as his “patron.’’ He could write about anything in the terminal; he was even given “explicit permission to be rude about the...