Naomi Campbell flips out in Heathrow Terminal 5, gets arrested

by Grant Martin on

I guess even celebrities are not immune to baggage problems and stressing out at Heathrow. Apparently supermodel Naomi Campbell was arrested yesterday after causing a ruckus when she misplaced one of her pieces of luggage. She insisted on the airline finding it immediately and when they offered to forward it along to prevent the plane from leaving late she caused a scene.

When the police were called in to manage the dispute, Campbell flew completely off the handle and assaulted the police officer, which, apparently is against the law. She was thus subdued, handcuffed and removed from the plane along with her entire entourage of Campbellites.

If Google serves me right, this isn’t the first time that Ms. Campbell has been in trouble for violent behavior. Victims include but are not limited to her nanny, her drug counselor and her assistant, with the total number of claims against her now up to eight.

Wouldn’t you know it, attacking people doesn’t seem to help the situation when you’ve lost your bags. Take a lesson from Naomi Campbell and stay calm next time they’re misplaced.

Homeless at Heathrow wear floral shirts to blend in with tourists

by Iva Skoch on

As if London’s Heathrow airport needs another PR nightmare, after the fiasco with Terminal 5. The growing homeless population that has lived inside the terminal certainly doesn’t help Heathrow’s reputation as a pleasant, smooth airport.

Time magazine reports that at 3 a.m.at Heathrow Airport, the scene of people sprawled across plastic benches in various poses of contortion looks vaguely familiar and vaguely odd.

“Each night, scores of London’s homeless men and women take advantage of modern travel delays by posing as stranded passengers in order to sleep in a warm and safe place. They play a cat-and-mouse game with police, often donning floral shirts, fanny packs and other travel accessories to blend in,” Time writes.

You could easily take this to perfection by adding a wheeled Samsonite carry-on, and, of course a paper cup from Starbucks. Seriously, what is it about floral shirts and fanny packs? Why are tourists so ridiculous?

A third day of Heathrow misery. Terminal case continues

by Iva Skoch on

Things are not working out so well at London Heathrow’s new Terminal 5. Since the terminal opened three days ago, it has been nothing but baggage problems, cancellations and misery, BBC reports. One fifth of flights from the new terminal were scrapped today: 67 out of the 330 scheduled. 37 flights have been canceled for Sunday.

A total of 208 flights in and out of the terminal were canceled during the first three days so far. Some elevators are not working. People cannot locate their bags. Sounds like a nightmare.

The cancellations also created an unexpected heavy demand for hotel rooms. An average airport hotel room, normally around $150, went up to $500 for a double room on Thursday. After many complaints, the airlines have scrapped its $200 limit for delayed passengers’ hotels.

Symbolic figurehead helps inaugurate Heathrow’s new terminal

by Aaron Hotfelder on

Yesterday Queen Elizabeth II helped celebrate the opening of Heathrow’s newest terminal, an $8.7 billion structure that is now the largest free-standing building in Britain. “My warmest congratulations go to everyone who has worked on this highly impressive building; it embodies many achievements of which you can be rightly proud,” she said.

The terminal will be used exclusively by British Airways, whose shareholders footed the bill for this massive project. Proponents of the airport expansion say that the new terminal, which will first be used by passengers on March 27, will allow passengers to move more quickly through check-in and security. Environmentalists and other critics of the project say the new terminal will lead to more flights and more pollution. Which, of course, it will.

In other news, British Airways says they’re modifying their security procedure to coincide with the introduction of the new terminal. Passengers who don’t arrive at the airport at least 35 minutes before their flight is scheduled to take off will be stopped at security checkpoints and forced to re-book, instead of being allowed to run for the gate Home-Alone-style.

More here.

What makes a good airport?

by Iva Skoch on

With the controversial Heathrow Terminal 5 getting ready to hit the spotlight, the question on the minds of thousands of travelers is: What actually makes a good airport?

BBC thinks it is the following five attributes:

  1. Signage
  2. Building design
  3. Transport links
  4. No queues
  5. Retail

In general, people are skeptical that Heathrow will ever be able to accomplish all of those (even with the $8.5 billion Terminal 5). The model airport? Simon Calder, Independent’s travel editor, says: Marseilles.