BA Chief accuses the government of lying over waiting times at Heathrow Airport

With waiting times at Heathrow Airport border control hitting the headlines again this week, BA boss Willy Walsh has told the BBC that the government are deliberately misleading the public on the matter.

Yesterday the Immigration Minister Damian Green told the press that UK Border Force figures show the longest waiting times at Heathrow Airport passport control to be 90 minutes. This data is consistent with the experiences of many of our Heathrow Airport parking customers who have reported waiting times of between 20 and 70 minutes in the last year.

According to Willy Walsh who spoke to the BBC this morning however, the problem is more serious than the government would have us believe. Speaking to John Humphreys on Radio 4’s Today Programme, BA’s Head said:

“The government has tried to convince people that we don't have a crisis, the government is misleading people. We have a crisis, it has been there for some time and we need urgent action,” he said.

In response, Damian Green has promised a new rostering system to begin next month and new mobile immigration teams to help cut queues during the Olympic Games which start on 27 July.