Aviation industry “reluctant to prepare”
The aviation industry is reluctant to “prepare” for the thousands of people arriving due to rising costs, said the chief executive of the airline’s management group.
Asked what the industry can do to meet demand, Peter Davies told LBC: “Well, they need to be equipped as quickly as possible in terms of staffing, especially through airports safely.”
However, he said they are often reluctant to do so.
“I went back to the UK a couple of weeks ago at Heathrow Terminal 2 and had to wait 56 minutes to get through the electronic gateways,” he said. “It was a snake, which is a good way to move people.
“He moved, but the problem was, of course, that once you got to the electronic gates, very few people were rejected, maybe 10% because his passport was wrong or something, but all the gates there they were open.
“It wasn’t like you only had two or three, I think you had about 20 doors.
“So when you have thousands of people arriving at Heathrow at seven in the morning, and that’s been going on for years, where there are a lot of people arriving on night flights, you should be prepared to do that. handle these people.
“But of course it costs money and it costs space, and people are often reluctant to do that.”