Most days at Heathrow, it is perhaps unfashionable to say, are good days. Britain's busiest airport is crammed into a ridiculously constrained plot of land in west London. Yet between the first touchdown around 5am and the last take-off shortly before 11pm, planes arrive or depart at an average rate of one every 50 seconds. In aviation terms, the two-runway hub achieves an absurd level of productivity – matched only by nearby single-runway Gatwick, with just over half of Heathrow's area and about 55 per cent of passengers. Economically, Heathrow extracts more value from five square miles of the earth's surface than any similar-sized patch on the planet. Emotionally, the airport brings more people together than anywhere else in Europe. But if fate interferes with the smooth running of Heathrow, the wheels fall off quicker than you can say "doors to manual". Yesterday the discovery of a suspect package at Heathrow Terminal 3 triggered an evacuation of part of the airport used by Virgin Atlantic, Emirates and Cathay Pacific. Oddly, flights were less affected than trains (the airport's central station, close to the source of the alert, saw more than 20 cancellations). Ten weeks ago today, the outcome was much worse: we woke to a day-long closedown of London Heathrow due to a fire at an electricity substation that fed power to the airport. I use the term "we woke" loosely; an ever-vigilant news desk called me at 3am on Friday 21 March, saying Heathrow was shutting for the day and politely enquiring if I might care to start reporting on the inevitable unfolding chaos as more than 200,000 passengers discovered their travel plans had been torn up. In contrast Thomas Woldbye, chief executive of Heathrow, slumbered on for almost four more hours due to his phone having inadvertently switched to silent mode, thereby missing a series of increasingly desperate calls from colleagues. The inability of the UK's busiest airport to summon the captain at its greatest hour of need was one of the revelations from the Kelly Review, conducted by former transport secretary – and current Heathrow non-executive director – Ruth Kelly. "I think anyone with an iPhone will recognise how this can happen sometimes," she told me on yesterday's travel podcast. "But the important point to note is: the right decisions were taken by the right people." Heathrow shutdown: the complete timeline |
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Welcome home: meeters and greeters at London Heathrow airport |
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| Along with Charley Boorman, the actor talks about the freedom of the road and its health benefits. Read more. |
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| You don't need to go far to find silky golden sands and turquoise seas for an idyllic coastal getaway. Read more. |
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| Take the slow road with these charming drives through vineyards, small towns and winding lanes. Read more. |
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"That's something I never thought I'd experience in my entire life" – so exclaimed the transport secretary, Heidi Alexander, at London Waterloo station just after 6am last Sunday morning. The woman responsible for the nation's mobility (pictured below) had just listened to her pre-recorded announcement booming out across the concourse from platforms 1 to 24 inclusive. Ms Alexander and I were waiting for the 6.14am to Shepperton in Surrey – the first departure from Waterloo for newly renationalised South Western Railway. She pledged to the (relatively few) travellers around at that time of the morning that she would "return the railways to the service of passengers". Those commuters and leisure travellers are naturally wondering: what exactly is changing? The newly nationalised South Western Railway has the same timetable, same fares and same staff as the previous operator – a joint venture between FirstGroup and Hong Kong-based MTR Corporation. The argument for nationalisation was summed up succinctly for me by the rail minister, Peter Hendy. Removing the private sector means that a slab of complexity and cost falls away, he argues. The previous legal wrangling over delays, with private firms seeking to maximise shareholder returns, should be replaced by train and track managers deciding on the best (or least-worst) outcome for passengers. What happens on South Western Railway from this weekend will be emulated in other parts of the country over the coming months and years, as most of the remaining private operators are brought back into public ownership. Passengers are waiting impatiently: actions speak louder than station announcements. |
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Each week, we'll invite you to vote in our exclusive Travel Week poll, where two travel experiences go head-to-head. This Friday, we're keen to know how you'd rather travel across the channel to European destinations. Do you like to relax on Eurostar, or do you enjoy the thrill of the open road and prefer to travel by car? Let us know by selecting the photo above. In last week's poll 78 per cent of you chose the island of Hydra over its Cycladic cousin Santorini, which is just over an hour from Athens and offers all the same charm – without the tourists. |
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Passengers flying direct between the UK and Latin America are expected to top one million for the first time this year. According to data supplied by aviation analysts Cirium, by far the most popular air link from the UK to Latin America connects London Heathrow with Sao Paulo in Brazil. This year more than 278,000 seats will be available on the route, split between British Airways and Latam. Cancun in Mexico from London Gatwick takes second place at 194,000, with Heathrow to Mexico City third on 168,000. The rest of the field is some distance behind. Avianca's nightly link from Heathrow to the Colombian capital, Bogota, could carry up to 106,000 passengers this year, less than 2,000 seats ahead of the British Airways Heathrow-Rio-Buenos Aires marathon.
Beyond this top five, there are 10 other direct routes – most of them serving Cancun – from Manchester, Birmingham, Glasgow, Newcastle, Heathrow and Belfast. But three links are unique to British Airways: Heathrow to Santiago in Chile, and Gatwick to San Jose and Georgetown – capitals of Costa Rica and Guyana respectively. |
V&A East Storehouse opens tomorrow |
London's cultural and touristic centre of gravity shifts slightly east on 31 May: tomorrow is the opening day of the Victoria & Albert Museum's East Storehouse in the former Olympic Media Centre between Hackney Wick and Stratford. As well as 350,000 books and 250,000 objects, V&A East Storehouse contains the Kaufmann Office (the only complete Frank Lloyd Wright interior outside the US) and a two-storey section of a maisonette flat from the recently demolished Robin Hood Gardens housing estate in nearby Poplar. Open 10am-6pm daily (Thursday and Saturday to 10pm), admission free. |
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| Set sail on a 2025 Fred Olsen summer cruise to an array of stunning destinations – and enjoy a FREE drinks package while you're at it! |
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I am going to Belfast next week. What is the best day trip from there? |
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Usually I would recommend the amazing Gobbins Cliff Path – a precarious walk along the raw edge of the County Antrim coast – but it is closed until August at least because of a rock fall. Instead, take a trip around Strangford Lough, east of Belfast. It is shaped roughly like a dolphin and is officially "the largest sea water inlet in Ireland and the UK". The lough is also a Marine Conservation Zone; a quarter of the world's population of pale-bellied Brent geese turn up here from Greenland each autumn. You can make a rewarding circuit of the lough thanks to a ferry link across the narrow channel at the southern end. A car will be near-essential. Going clockwise, start at Bangor: a former mill town turned seaside resort. Then head for Newtownards at the northern end of Strangford Lough. Start the circuit along the lough-side road. First stop: Mount Stewart – a magnificent 19th-century mansion belonging to the National Trust. The next village along is Greyabbey. The abbey ruins date from the 12th century. Lately Greyabbey has become a hub for antique/vintage/craft shops. The peninsula offers two coasts for the price of one, so veer across to the eastern shore for a fine view (weather permitting) of the Mull of Galloway in southwest Scotland and possibly the Isle of Man. It's a good drive along to Portaferry at the end of the lough. An eight-minute boat ride takes you across the narrow neck of water to the town of Strangford, with a postcard-perfect waterfront and good places to eat and drink. Just outside: the National Trust property of Castle Ward, which played the part of Winterfell Castle (home of the Stark family) in Game of Thrones. Continue to the town of Downpatrick. Here, you can turn sharp right to travel along the western shore of the lough; steer straight back to Belfast on the A7; or go west to Bainbridge for the Game of Thrones Studio Tour. Northern Ireland country guide |
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| This Ryanair-friendly under-seat bag is reduced to just £10 at Amazon. |
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| Going away? Save over £90 with this Boots holiday beauty set. |
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