Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Willie Walsh, chief of British Airways' parent company IAG, accused the UK government of "misleading people" over border control queues at London's Heathrow Airport. Walsh called for urgent action to solve what he calls an “ongoing crisis”.
Immigration minister Damian Green pledged in the House of Commons yesterday and reiterated on the Today programme this morning to solve the immigration problems at Heathrow. On the programme, Green started that non-EU nationals were waiting no longer than an hour and a half to enter the country, although this was challenged by Walsh who said that airport data showed some passengers queued for two hours and 31 minutes on Friday 27 April. He 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.”
Green again pledged to create a new central control room at Heathrow to mobilise teams of border staff at terminals when queues are forming alongside a new rostering system to make the system more flexible.
Walsh stated that airlines using Heathrow have offered in the past to pay more landing fees to fund extra border staff but this was rejected by the government. Green denied that discussions had taken place between airports owner BAA, the airlines and the government, over this issue.
UK minister pledges to improve border controls at Heathrow, while IAG chief attacks delays
