The UK Border Agency is aware of five occasions when some passengers from international flights entered the domestic arrivals area at Heathrow Terminal 5. These instances occurred in the Terminal's first month of operation and there have been no further incidents in the following weeks. Not all of the passengers on the flights involved were misdirected. The total number who entered the domestic arrivals process was 232.
All of these incidents were a result of human error on the part of the employees of either British Airways or the British Airports Authority. When notified of these events UKBA staff worked closely with the airport operator to secure the domestic arrivals area and to redirect the passengers to the appropriate area.
On two occasions this was completely successful, but on the other three occasions a number of individuals left the domestic area prior to the error being identified. On these occasions, further checks were made which satisfied UKBA staff that the individuals who had entered did not present a known risk to the UK.
After each incident a review was conducted with both the British Airports Authority and British Airways and these reviews identified a number of ways to prevent such events from re-occurring. Since these steps were implemented the UKBA has monitored their effectiveness, to ensure that further misdirections do not occur. In addition UKBA, the British Airports Authority and British Airways are continuing to carry out regular reviews.
The UK Border Agency is aware of five flights where some passengers from international destinations entered the domestic arrivals area at Heathrow Terminal 5. The flights originated from Amsterdam, Berlin, Prague, Tripoli and Moscow. These instances occurred in the Terminal's first month of operation and there have been no further incidents in the following weeks.
All these incidents were a result of human error on the part of the employees of either British Airways or the British Airports Authority. When notified of these events UKBA staff worked closely with the airport operator to secure the domestic arrivals area and to redirect the passengers to the appropriate area.
On two occasions this was completely successful, but on the other three occasions a number of individuals left the domestic area prior to the error being identified. On these occasions, further checks were made which satisfied UKBA staff that the individuals who had entered did not present a known risk to the UK.
After each incident a review was conducted with both the British Airports Authority and British Airways and these reviews identified a number of ways to prevent such events from re-occurring. Since these steps were implemented the UKBA has monitored their effectiveness to ensure that further misdirections do not occur. In addition UKBA, the British Airports Authority and British Airways are continuing to carry out regular reviews.
All instances of international passengers being misdirected to domestic arrivals took place in Heathrow Terminal 5's first month of operation and there have been no further incidents in the following weeks. All of these incidents were a result of human error on the part of the employees of either British Airways or the British Airports Authority. The UK Border Agency was notified of these errors immediately after they were discovered and were able to take the appropriate remedial action and carry out the necessary immigration checks on these passengers.
When notified of these events UKBA staff worked closely with the airport operator to secure the domestic arrivals area and to redirect the passengers to the appropriate area.
On two occasions this was completely successful, but on the other three occasions a number of individuals left the domestic area prior to the error being identified. On these occasions, further checks were made which satisfied UKBA staff that the individuals who had entered did not present a known risk to the UK.
After each incident a review was conducted with both the British Airports Authority and British Airways and these reviews identified a number of ways to prevent such events from re-occurring. Since these steps were implemented the UKBA has monitored their effectiveness to ensure that further misdirections do not occur. In addition UKBA, the British Airports Authority and British Airways are continuing to carry out regular reviews.