Passengers complained of chaotic scenes at London's Heathrow Airport today after the unscheduled closure of a nearby road tunnel caused major disruption.
Terminal buildings were crammed with unhappy passengers, many of whom shared images of lengthy queues on social media. Nearby roads, including motorways, were gridlocked, with some travellers attempting to reach the airport forced to abandon their transport and walk with their luggage as traffic backed up.
In a statement, Heathrow said there had been a “technical issue” which had caused the closure of the road tunnel leading to terminals 2 and 3. Announcing the tunnel had reopened, the airport said there was “still congestion” and added “we recommend allowing extra time for your journey. We apologise for any inconvenience caused.”
Passenger Jane Boyd criticised Heathrow for failing to be prepared for such emergency situations. She shared an image of passengers crammed inside one of the terminals and described the situation as an “absolute mess”, adding that there were no staff to “direct lines of confused passengers”.
Sheila Carney Bowen sent a message to Aer Lingus saying there was “utter chaos” at Heathrow, with the airline's priority queue “swamped” with non members.
Another passenger who shared an image of a packed airport walkway said: “What a mess at Heathrow. Problems with the tunnel going to terminal three so traffic was backed up as everyone had to go around to other terminals and take the subway to three. Very little communication as to where to go.”
Malcolm Cowling wrote that the UK's major international hub airport appeared to be competing for the “Mickey Mouse Airport of the Year Award”. “Who in their right mind would fly from here unless you had to?” he said.
Today's problem is the latest to frustrate passengers. Last week, a “radar-related issue” caused an air traffic control (ATC) failure that grounded flights across the UK.
In March, the airport was closed for almost 24 hours after a fire in a nearby electricity substation caused a massive power cut, which cost the airport millions of pounds. More than 270,000 air passenger journeys were disrupted by the incident.
Last week, Indian-born businessman Surinder Arora set out his plans to go up against Heathrow in the battle to develop a third runway and new terminals at the UK's main hub. His £25 billion plan could go head to head with Heathrow's own grander £33 billion scheme to develop a longer runway that passes under the M25 motorway.
The National Archives, Abu Dhabi
Founded over 50 years ago, the National Archives collects valuable historical material relating to the UAE, and is the oldest and richest archive relating to the Arabian Gulf.
Much of the material can be viewed on line at the Arabian Gulf Digital Archive - https://www.agda.ae/en
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The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.
Read part four: an affection for classic cars lives on
Read part three: the age of the electric vehicle begins
Read part two: how climate change drove the race for an alternative
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- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
Company name: Farmin
Date started: March 2019
Founder: Dr Ali Al Hammadi
Based: Abu Dhabi
Sector: AgriTech
Initial investment: None to date
Partners/Incubators: UAE Space Agency/Krypto Labs
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Send “thenational” to the following numbers or call the hotline on: 0502955999
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It firmly rejected “acts of terrorism, which constitute a flagrant violation of the sanctity of houses of worship”.
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The WEF study said there had been some improvements in wage equality in 2018 compared to 2017, when the global gender gap widened for the first time in a decade.
But it warned that these were offset by declining representation of women in politics, coupled with greater inequality in their access to health and education.
At current rates, the global gender gap across a range of areas will not close for another 108 years, while it is expected to take 202 years to close the workplace gap, WEF found.
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* Agence France Presse
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