It appears that a new trial at London Heathrow airport will simplify international connections starting on Tuesday. Dubbed “One Stop Security,” the initiative will initially allow passengers arriving from the U.S. into terminal 3 to bypass the standard security check.
- Currently, connecting passengers have passports checked and then are routed through security, even though they do not have to enter the U.K.
- Under the trial, U.S.-arriving passengers at terminal 3 will be able to connect to a flight in terminals 3 or 5, with a bus meeting the aircraft to provide an airside drop off at those terminals.
- The test runs through March 25, 2025, but is expected to be extended and also expanded to all U.S. arriving flights.
From 4 February 2025, passengers arriving into LHR on BA226 Atlanta to LHR into T3, can connect to their next T3 or T5 flight without passing via a security check. There will be a coach system in place from the aircraft direct into airside T3 or T5, allowing passengers easier and faster connections.
This covers all services from ATL and DFW, with BA, AA, VS, DL into T3, and again covering connections via T5. I don’t think BA192 (DFW-LHR) is in scope just yet, since it comes into T5 not T3, but that presumably would be the next option.
If the test is deemed successful, it could be extended to European arrivals as well. There have been discussions around offering similar international-to-international connecting services at U.S. airports (which for the most part aren’t well set up to segregate outbound international passengers – they usually leave from domestic terminals, and passengers could just exit the airport into the U.S. if they wished).
This would certainly make London Heathrow more desirable as a connecting airport, even with having to do busing. About a year ago changing terminals took me 3 buses and 95 minutes and that didn’t even save me from going through passport checks and security.
It would also help to offset the inconvenience of the new UK ETA program which operates like an electronic visa. While not strictly speaking necessary for connecting passengers, it’s advisable to be able to enter whatever country you’re connecting through if possible, in case of irregular flight operations.
Please fire that thief of a security agent who keeps stealing from transit passengers at LHR T3–She literally takes one token item from every passengers toiletries. Watch out everybody!
This is great news.
Very good. It is too bad that the UK’s electronic system is good for only 2 years while the EU’s is 3. It would have made travel simpler if they had gone to 3 also.
@drrichard That’s what the new President should do. Threaten tariffs and nuclear war unless the ETA for the UK and EU are free to US citizens and be willing to make a deal to not start tariffs or nuclear war as well as offer the UK and richer EU countries free ETAs.
@derek
I mean, it hasn’t even been 2 full weeks—give Him a chance. The guy is a one-trick pony. His tariffs against Canada and Mexico (and China) start tomorrow (Saturday, February 1). So, tariffs against our allies in Europe should begin soon enough, regardless of these ETAs. Either way, we are gonna be paying more—these are a new regressive taxes on all of us, whether folks admit or realize it yet. And when trade doesn’t cross borders, soldiers do. It didn’t have to be this way. We are reheating a dumb, destructive history. Who does this all benefit, anyways? Not us, that’s for sure.
Transit security was always an enormous waste of time and money. Assuming that a terrorist managed to get a weapon or bomb past security at his origin airport, under what scenario would he save it for his second flight?!?
This would help some at LHR but it’s the bus ride between terminals that is the real mess.
I would urge US gateways for flights from the UK to also allow transit passengers to skip security; it’s a huge waste of time that only prevents thousands of gallons of airside purchased bottled water from entering the US unchecked.
Don’t understand why Heathrow is doing this. They need to require the same from US airports before implementing this. We go through additional security checks at foreign airports before doing the whole process of fetching our bags and rechecking them and then going through security again if we have connecting flights.
This is something that most airports in the EU have been doing for a decade or more. It’s new to the UK because the UK did not previously trust security screenings for transit passengers arriving from outside the UK (which is the majority of transit passengers at Heathrow).
And all of the non-connecting passengers get to ride a bus instead of simply arriving at the terminal.
How many people and buses will they need to accommodate all of the connecting passengers on all flights arriving at terminal 3? For passengers arriving at terminal 5; what is the plan to accommodate these passengers?
Its long overdue. Why you can fly across the ocean only to have to go through security upon connecting onward at LHR never made any sense. And I agree that the same thing applies domestically.
I’m a bit surprised they didn’t have a trial run only for passengers transferring within Terminal 5. One would think that would have been a safer, less tedious option. Not to mention that T5 is frequented by loads of US inbound flights thanks to British Airways, so it would have given more helpful results. Nevertheless, I like the move to trial this by LHR. Security checking areas are arguably the biggest bottlenecks for connecting at Heathrow, and many travelers from the US constantly face issues from disembarking a plane after a long journey across the Atlantic only to be subjected to punitive security screening (think a full body search if the metal detector is set off, shoe scans, having an officer ruffle through hand luggage because one tiny toiletry was not in a plastic bag). The most optimal outcome that could come from this if the trial is successful is that all US bound flights will have a waiver from UK security, which makes sense considering the US is pretty robust in airport security screening. It will also relieve some burden on existing security checkpoints at Heathrow by lessening the queues, and allow more time for connecting travelers to buy things in the departure lounge. A win-win for all.
To have to deplane by bus is the one thing I dislike far more than even the hassle of transit security. And at LHR even when my final destination was LHR and I come in on BA, sometimes I have had to wait 20-55 minutes for a bus to even come. And then you have to wait for other passengers to fill up the bus before it drives in.
If “bus-required” is UK/LHR’s implementation of one-stop security facilitation, not looking forward to it.
Maybe this is even just a dog and pony show to satisfy the Trump Admin that they are doing a favor for the US that they don’t give the EU/Schengen countries collective.
This is a great idea, long overdue. Hope it works. Thank you, Heathrow.