Post-pandemic the airport business is certainly back to rude health but whether or not the traveller is well served is certainly being tested to the limit.
It is early Sunday morning on the way to Greece and the dawn lines of people waiting to check in are well-formed. Occasionally a woman with a clipboard shouts out the number of a flight that will soon take off. Its passengers are allowed to go to the front of the queue and are hurried through, otherwise they would miss the plane.
We’re flying British Airways but we’re not allowed to check in online, not sure why. Not that it would make a difference, because across the hall the numbers dropping their bags off and inching forward are just as great.
Checking in takes us almost an hour. Then comes security. It’s mercifully quicker.
We’re through and can relax and have breakfast, except there is only half an hour left. We have no time to queue again, order and eat anything.
This, having been told to check in two hours before departure. When our gate is shown, it’s 34 – miles away and there’s no travelator. Except there is. For reasons unexplained, there is a 30-metre stretch of travelator, then nothing but corridor. But that 30-metre bit is also shut, with cones and a barrier at each end.
Then I open the Sunday Times and read an interview with Stewart Wingate, the boss of Gatwick. It is timed ahead of planned strikes by 1,000 baggage handlers at the airport, starting at the end of this month.
Wingate wants to convey the message that they are not employed by the airport but by the airlines. “I think in recent years, passengers have started to realise that [the baggage handlers] are under contract to the airlines.”
Presumably, that’s what he would say about the lack of BA desk staff: “Not my problem, guv.”
But it is your problem, Stewart. It’s precisely your problem. Passengers, whatever he likes to believe, don’t distinguish between who employs who. We view the whole process in the round, and it’s dreadful.
Indeed, Wingate himself says as much, when in the next breath he defends Gatwick’s record last year. The airport had to put a cap on flights because of staff shortages. These limits were gradually raised through the summer and, because of its “collegiate approach” with airlines, Wingate said, Gatwick had a “normal amount of cancellations” in the peak season.
He’s having a dig at Heathrow, his rival, which had to tell airlines to stop selling tickets as it could not cope with demand.
Then Wingate says, that for this summer: “We’ve put an awful lot of effort into making sure that the experience is going to be a good one, with a particular focus on getting passengers through security quickly.”
There you have it. That overused word. The “experience”. Stewart, get down there at 5.30am and see for yourself. Take the journey from the moment you arrive, all the way to departure, and ask, is the “experience” good? Use that “collegiality” as you call it, to roast BA, to tell them to stop treating people like commodities. Both of you, cease taking us for granted.
Wingate is on surer ground when talking about improvements to Gatwick’s infrastructure. A new £47 million railway station is due to open later this year, a new multistorey car park is coming soon (car parks contributed 13 per cent of Gatwick’s £777 million sales last year), and he wants to build a second runway. If he receives permission for the latter, the airport’s capacity will increase by 19 per cent by 2030.
This, in a nutshell, is where we are with UK airports. Their chiefs talk constantly about passenger totals. Their proud boast at present is that the industry has bounced back from Covid, that levels are up to 90 per cent pre-pandemic.
They’re only set to rise further. But therein lies the difficulty: the UK’s main airports cannot cope with existing traffic. How will they perform when the outbreak becomes a distant memory and global air travel soars, as it is predicted to?
Wingate, or for that matter his opposite numbers at Heathrow and the rest, hailing additions to their transport connections is one thing; obliging the airlines to step up and concentrate on the ground side part of the journey as opposed to the air side, which they love to regale us with in their advertising, is quite another.
There is no sign of any commensurate improvement at the airport end, not from the traveller’s perspective
The airports are very good at hiking their fees to the airlines – the carriers are always complaining about the extra charges. Likewise, fares continue to climb. But there is no sign of any commensurate improvement at the airport end, not from the traveller’s perspective.
Perish the thought, that the blurring over who is responsible for what, suits them just perfectly. How can BA make proud boasts in its promotions, yet its desks are unmanned and the lines go out of the door? More to the point, how is it allowed to?
And not only BA, but other carriers which do not hire enough staff and are not bothered if their customers must queue for ages. They sell the seats after all.
Why do Wingate and the others – Heathrow is little different – let it happen? Could it be they’re locked in a conspiracy of complacency, intent on making more money, extracting ever greater amounts of revenue, and the passenger, the person at the bottom of the pile, is there to be forgotten.
Taking an hour to get through check-in, shrugging and saying it’s not my fault when the bags take forever to reach the conveyor will not do. UK airports do not seem to realise they are in the service business, not in the robotic processing of tens of millions of passengers.
It’s their decision to outsource. It’s their decision to not man their check-in desks. We, the suffering travelling public, are entitled to a better, what is that word again, “experience”.
COMPANY%20PROFILE
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EName%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESmartCrowd%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E2018%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounder%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESiddiq%20Farid%20and%20Musfique%20Ahmed%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EDubai%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ESector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EFinTech%20%2F%20PropTech%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInitial%20investment%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E%24650%2C000%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ECurrent%20number%20of%20staff%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%2035%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestment%20stage%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESeries%20A%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EVarious%20institutional%20investors%20and%20notable%20angel%20investors%20(500%20MENA%2C%20Shurooq%2C%20Mada%2C%20Seedstar%2C%20Tricap)%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Dhadak 2
Director: Shazia Iqbal
Starring: Siddhant Chaturvedi, Triptii Dimri
Rating: 1/5
Our legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
The five pillars of Islam
The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
Sholto Byrnes on Myanmar politics
SUE%20GRAY'S%20FINDINGS
%3Cp%3E%22Whatever%20the%20initial%20intent%2C%20what%20took%20place%20at%20many%20of%20these%20gatherings%20and%20the%3Cbr%3Eway%20in%20which%20they%20developed%20was%20not%20in%20line%20with%20Covid%20guidance%20at%20the%20time.%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%22Many%20of%20these%20events%20should%20not%20have%20been%20allowed%20to%20happen.%20It%20is%20also%20the%20case%20that%20some%20of%20the%3Cbr%3Emore%20junior%20civil%20servants%20believed%20that%20their%20involvement%20in%20some%20of%20these%20events%20was%20permitted%20given%20the%20attendance%20of%20senior%20leaders.%C2%A0%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%22The%20senior%20leadership%20at%20the%20centre%2C%20both%20political%20and%20official%2C%20must%20bear%20responsibility%20for%20this%20culture.%C2%A0%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%22I%20found%20that%20some%20staff%20had%20witnessed%20or%20been%20subjected%20to%20behaviours%20at%20work%20which%20they%20had%20felt%20concerned%20about%20but%20at%20times%20felt%20unable%20to%20raise%20properly.%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%22I%20was%20made%20aware%20of%20multiple%20examples%20of%20a%20lack%20of%20respect%20and%20poor%20treatment%20of%20security%20and%20cleaning%20staff.%20This%20was%20unacceptable.%22%C2%A0%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
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Results
7pm: Wathba Stallions Cup – Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 (Dirt) 1,600m; Winner: RB Kings Bay, Abdul Aziz Al Balushi (jockey), Helal Al Alawi (trainer)
7.30pm: Maiden (PA) Dh 70,000 (D) 1,600m; Winner: AF Ensito, Fernando Jara, Mohamed Daggash
8pm: Maiden (PA) Dh70,000 (D) 1,400m; Winner: AF Sourouh, Tadhg O’Shea, Ernst Oertel
8.30pm: Maiden (PA) Dh70,000 (D) 1,800m; Winner: Baaher, Fabrice Veron, Eric Lemartinel
9pm: Maiden (PA) Dh70,000 (D) 2,000m; Winner: Mootahady, Antonio Fresu, Eric Lemartinel
9.30pm: Handicap (TB) Dh70,000 (D) 2,000m; Winner: Dubai Canal, Tadhg O’Shea, Satish Seemar
10pm: Al Ain Cup – Prestige (PA) Dh100,000 (D) 2,000m; Winner: Harrab, Bernardo Pinheiro, Majed Al Jahouri
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
The specs: 2018 Nissan 370Z Nismo
The specs: 2018 Nissan 370Z Nismo
Price, base / as tested: Dh182,178
Engine: 3.7-litre V6
Power: 350hp @ 7,400rpm
Torque: 374Nm @ 5,200rpm
Transmission: Seven-speed automatic
Fuel consumption, combined: 10.5L / 100km
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The%20Killer
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Moon Music
Artist: Coldplay
Label: Parlophone/Atlantic
Number of tracks: 10
Rating: 3/5
Another way to earn air miles
In addition to the Emirates and Etihad programmes, there is the Air Miles Middle East card, which offers members the ability to choose any airline, has no black-out dates and no restrictions on seat availability. Air Miles is linked up to HSBC credit cards and can also be earned through retail partners such as Spinneys, Sharaf DG and The Toy Store.
An Emirates Dubai-London round-trip ticket costs 180,000 miles on the Air Miles website. But customers earn these ‘miles’ at a much faster rate than airline miles. Adidas offers two air miles per Dh1 spent. Air Miles has partnerships with websites as well, so booking.com and agoda.com offer three miles per Dh1 spent.
“If you use your HSBC credit card when shopping at our partners, you are able to earn Air Miles twice which will mean you can get that flight reward faster and for less spend,” says Paul Lacey, the managing director for Europe, Middle East and India for Aimia, which owns and operates Air Miles Middle East.
The%20specs%3A%202024%20Mercedes%20E200
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
if you go
The flights
Air Astana flies direct from Dubai to Almaty from Dh2,440 per person return, and to Astana (via Almaty) from Dh2,930 return, both including taxes.
The hotels
Rooms at the Ritz-Carlton Almaty cost from Dh1,944 per night including taxes; and in Astana the new Ritz-Carlton Astana (www.marriott) costs from Dh1,325; alternatively, the new St Regis Astana costs from Dh1,458 per night including taxes.
When to visit
March-May and September-November
Visas
Citizens of many countries, including the UAE do not need a visa to enter Kazakhstan for up to 30 days. Contact the nearest Kazakhstan embassy or consulate.
Director: Laxman Utekar
Cast: Vicky Kaushal, Akshaye Khanna, Diana Penty, Vineet Kumar Singh, Rashmika Mandanna
Rating: 1/5
Profile of MoneyFellows
Founder: Ahmed Wadi
Launched: 2016
Employees: 76
Financing stage: Series A ($4 million)
Investors: Partech, Sawari Ventures, 500 Startups, Dubai Angel Investors, Phoenician Fund
COMPANY%20PROFILE%20
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EName%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Haltia.ai%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%202023%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ECo-founders%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Arto%20Bendiken%20and%20Talal%20Thabet%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Dubai%2C%20UAE%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EIndustry%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20AI%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ENumber%20of%20employees%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%2041%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFunding%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20About%20%241.7%20million%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Self%2C%20family%20and%20friends%26nbsp%3B%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Thank You for Banking with Us
Director: Laila Abbas
Starring: Yasmine Al Massri, Clara Khoury, Kamel El Basha, Ashraf Barhoum
Rating: 4/5
GAC GS8 Specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 248hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 400Nm at 1,750-4,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 9.1L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh149,900
Specs
Engine: Dual-motor all-wheel-drive electric
Range: Up to 610km
Power: 905hp
Torque: 985Nm
Price: From Dh439,000
Available: Now
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
The bio
Studied up to grade 12 in Vatanappally, a village in India’s southern Thrissur district
Was a middle distance state athletics champion in school
Enjoys driving to Fujairah and Ras Al Khaimah with family
His dream is to continue working as a social worker and help people
Has seven diaries in which he has jotted down notes about his work and money he earned
Keeps the diaries in his car to remember his journey in the Emirates
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Ferrari 12Cilindri specs
Engine: naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12
Power: 819hp
Torque: 678Nm at 7,250rpm
Price: From Dh1,700,000
Available: Now
Pharaoh's curse
British aristocrat Lord Carnarvon, who funded the expedition to find the Tutankhamun tomb, died in a Cairo hotel four months after the crypt was opened.
He had been in poor health for many years after a car crash, and a mosquito bite made worse by a shaving cut led to blood poisoning and pneumonia.
Reports at the time said Lord Carnarvon suffered from “pain as the inflammation affected the nasal passages and eyes”.
Decades later, scientists contended he had died of aspergillosis after inhaling spores of the fungus aspergillus in the tomb, which can lie dormant for months. The fact several others who entered were also found dead withiin a short time led to the myth of the curse.
The specs
Engine: Dual 180kW and 300kW front and rear motors
Power: 480kW
Torque: 850Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh359,900 ($98,000)
On sale: Now
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The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre turbo
Power: 181hp
Torque: 230Nm
Transmission: 6-speed automatic
Starting price: Dh79,000
On sale: Now
The%20specs
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