Summer Airport Travel Advice
By Darren Cronian on Saturday, July 28th, 2007

For those of you travelling during the Summer on short or long haul flights my advice would be to get to the airport as early as you can – I took a flight from Leeds & Bradford airport to London Heathrow this week, and only had ten minutes to spare before the gate opened.

Summer Airport Travel Advice

I had actually arrived at the airport two hours before the flight, even though BMI quoted an hour, because I knew it would be crazy with the recent weather problems and terrorist attack on Glasgow airport, and it took me much longer than expected to get through security.

My advice is;

- get to the security check-in as quickly as possible, and make sure you adhere to the up-to-date baggage rules, i.e. liquids in a see-through bag, one piece of hand luggage etc.

- don’t wear shoes that have metal on them, as this will only delay you getting through security, how do I know this, because stupid me forgot to take my shoes off so I went through the metal detector, it beeped, they searched me, took my shoes off and had to go through the detector again.

- be prepared to queue in security, even at Leeds & Bradford which is usually very quick, I had to queue for nearly 40 minutes, so bear this in mind when working out what the best time to arrive at the airport.

- all UK airports aren’t allowing taxi’s or cars to drop people off near the departure terminals, and will have to drop you off in the cark parks or near the airport, so be prepared for a walk.

July and August are the busiest times of the years, so expect delays, both checking in and going through security, be organised, keep your passport and flight tickets with you at all time, and check the airline and airport websites before travelling.


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9 responses to “Summer Airport Travel Advice”

Nathan | 31 July, 2007 at 2:51 pm

Absolutely. It’s hard to overstate the importance of giving yourself plenty of time. I flew out from Heathrow Terminal 1 on Thursday last week and the BA desks were bedlam - there’s too little queueing space there as it is but it was impossible to see which line was which, or where any of them started. Shudder. If I hadn’t had an eticket I would have been there all day.

Rohan | 5 August, 2007 at 12:23 pm

Having recently flown from Liverpool I can also confirm that the security is a shambles. I know they have to be very careful, but asking young kids to remove their shoes and search them is OTT.

Darren Cronian | 5 August, 2007 at 12:36 pm

Rohan, it probably is a little OTT but I think it’s best to be safe than to be sorry.

Nathan makes a good point about etickets, I had the same with BMI, and check in was just superb. All I did was scan my passport, input my flight details, and my boarding tickets were produced.

I was very impressed and it saved me tons of time.

SarahK | 5 August, 2007 at 1:08 pm

I would be disgusted if they searched my child and I would have something to say about it.

Theres a thin line between security and going over the top.

Darren Cronian | 5 August, 2007 at 1:18 pm

I don’t have kids so its difficult for me to comment.

I had to take my shoes off and was searched but I’m glad they were so thorough and didn’t see any kids being searched.

Jase | 5 August, 2007 at 4:16 pm

We’ve just arrived back from Ibiza and the security here was crazy, but I’m glad it was. It means we are being extra cautious. Compared with Ibiza which was slack in my opinion, a quick look at my passport and thats about it.

Rachel | 6 August, 2007 at 1:07 pm

I find European countries take very litle notice of security in airports with maybe the exception of Amsterdam.

Vero | 7 August, 2007 at 9:05 am

Erk, I’m flying to Glasgow on Friday, and with this post, I’ve decided to take the afternoon off and head to Stansted early instead of just winging it and hoping for the best.

I’m not British, so I always get the 20 questions on my Canadian passport, UK visa up to the colour of my underpants, so better get there very very early this time…

Flying is just no fun anymore with all this security stuff… I might just start hitchhiking to places ;)

Susan Powell | 8 August, 2007 at 6:45 pm

I flew last Thursday out of Gatwick (back to the US). Smart cab driver took me into the arrivals level (downstairs) and pointed me in the direction of the lift to departures. Made it easier for him and me. :)

I was lucky, in that the line for checking in at American Airlines was a breeze but the line for Delta was insane… there were so many people that they were strewn all throughout the airport.

My B&B in Horley had all the up to date UK airport security checking-in info (as it was MUCH more stringent in the UK than it had been in the US) and I agree with other comments… being organized, having my “ducks in order” made it quicker to go through security.

I was at the airport 3 hours before my flight and was checked in and through security in less than an hour. Gave me time to shop. :)

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