Need to go airside, but not fly
Discussion
Bit of a strange one but hopefully someone can help. I need to meet someone who is transitting through T5 in a couple of weeks. Unfortunately they cannot come out land-side as they won't have a visa to enter the UK. They land 2pm and their connecting flight is at 9pm, but I only need to see them for a couple of hours within this window.
Would it be possible to purchase a flight ticket, go through, have my meeting, then change my mind about not flying and be shown the exit? I won't be buying any duty free or collecting any declarable goods, it's literally a meeting and that's it.
I'm a frequent traveller, but of course, have always flown. I can buy a ticket to somewhere like Newcastle and take the flight if absolutely necessary, if only to take the same plane back, but if I can avoid it, that would be great.
Appreciate any help
Would it be possible to purchase a flight ticket, go through, have my meeting, then change my mind about not flying and be shown the exit? I won't be buying any duty free or collecting any declarable goods, it's literally a meeting and that's it.
I'm a frequent traveller, but of course, have always flown. I can buy a ticket to somewhere like Newcastle and take the flight if absolutely necessary, if only to take the same plane back, but if I can avoid it, that would be great.
Appreciate any help
You can do this, BA will insist on helping you get on the next flight though unless you're really good at lying through your teeth as to why you can't fly.
You'll also need to be escorted back through immigration and customs which means the terminal security will be informed and the airline will escort you back (BA does this once per hour).
It seems like an expensive faff unless your friend is more than friend and you need to do something that can't be done on Facetime
You'll also need to be escorted back through immigration and customs which means the terminal security will be informed and the airline will escort you back (BA does this once per hour).
It seems like an expensive faff unless your friend is more than friend and you need to do something that can't be done on Facetime
Yes, you can - make sure that you buy a full fare, fully flexible ticket.
T5 is something of a pain in that you are supposed to be 'escorted' back landside if you need to leave. This is supposed to happen every hour at the customer service desk, and they merely escort you to immigration.
However, the quickest and easiest way is to get the transit to the C gates and simply stay on the train and and come back as a normal arriving passenger, and clear immigration as normal. This is the unofficial way but works just fine.
Domestic and international departures aren't segregated airside.
T5 is something of a pain in that you are supposed to be 'escorted' back landside if you need to leave. This is supposed to happen every hour at the customer service desk, and they merely escort you to immigration.
However, the quickest and easiest way is to get the transit to the C gates and simply stay on the train and and come back as a normal arriving passenger, and clear immigration as normal. This is the unofficial way but works just fine.
Zod said:
Also, you’d need to buy a ticket for an international flight, not Newcastle.
Why??Domestic and international departures aren't segregated airside.
GCH said:
Yes, you can - make sure that you buy a full fare, fully flexible ticket.
T5 is something of a pain in that you are supposed to be 'escorted' back landside if you need to leave. This is supposed to happen every hour at the customer service desk, and they merely escort you to immigration.
However, the quickest and easiest way is to get the transit to the C gates and simply stay on the train and and come back as a normal arriving passenger, and clear immigration as normal. This is the unofficial way but works just fine.
Domestic and international departures aren't segregated airside.
I don’t know enough about this to argue, but I know that you can get a flight to and from Edinburgh from T5, I’m sure that counts as domestic, don’t know about segregation though.T5 is something of a pain in that you are supposed to be 'escorted' back landside if you need to leave. This is supposed to happen every hour at the customer service desk, and they merely escort you to immigration.
However, the quickest and easiest way is to get the transit to the C gates and simply stay on the train and and come back as a normal arriving passenger, and clear immigration as normal. This is the unofficial way but works just fine.
Zod said:
Also, you’d need to buy a ticket for an international flight, not Newcastle.
Why??Domestic and international departures aren't segregated airside.
Dr Jekyll said:
Ideally first class then you can have a free meal and booze in the Concorde lounge before 'changing your mind about flying'. Not that I would recommend such dishonesty of course.
Only once? Not trying hard enough...http://www.news.com.au/travel/travel-updates/china...
I've done a few international transfers through terminal 5, with my wife who does not have UK residency, that must mean that they segregate domestic passengers? Otherwise what would stop her just going out of the departure hall to say the gate to Newcastle than just coming back with the arriving passengers? Or are you saying passengers arriving from Newcastle go through immigration.
I know when you arrive at T5 on a transfer they check you have valid passport and onward ticket. but do not require a UK visa.
I know when you arrive at T5 on a transfer they check you have valid passport and onward ticket. but do not require a UK visa.
Dr Jekyll said:
Arriving and departing passengers are segregated. You can arrive by air and go to departures but not arrive on the ground and go through from departures to arrivals.
The OP is talking about meeting a transit passenger though? So the inbound passenger will leave their flight, go to connections in T5, clear immigration as a transit passenger and then be in the main hall of T5 until their next flight.Vaud said:
Dr Jekyll said:
Arriving and departing passengers are segregated. You can arrive by air and go to departures but not arrive on the ground and go through from departures to arrivals.
The OP is talking about meeting a transit passenger though? So the inbound passenger will leave their flight, go to connections in T5, clear immigration as a transit passenger and then be in the main hall of T5 until their next flight.Because for domestic arrivals, you are already deemed ‘sterile’ and obviously in the UK already. This is why they tend to arrive at one end of T5A (gates 1-3 or 5-8) and the doors are opened and routed so you have the choice of exiting landslide with no immigration check into the domestic baggage hall, or directly into the non segregated departure hall with just an onward boarding pass check but without having to reclear security.
All international arrivals have to clear immigration if heading landslide, or security if connecting to another flight.
That has nothing to do with what the OP is planning.
If the OP is planning on meeting a colleague without a UK visa who is transiting airside then after re-clearing flight connections security from whichever country the colleague is flying from they will be in the sterile departures area.
Once the OP goes airside through security he will be in that same sterile common departure area - it is not segregated for international and domestic departures. Domestic departures have an additional biometric check at the gate but that’s it.
There is no way of exiting T5 airside departures without going through immigration, as it is not segregated and therefore everyones right of entry into the UK must be checked. To leave the sterile departures area, the steps are outlined in my previous post- wait for the hourly escort to immigration or take the transit to C and stay on back to immigration in T5A.
All international arrivals have to clear immigration if heading landslide, or security if connecting to another flight.
That has nothing to do with what the OP is planning.
If the OP is planning on meeting a colleague without a UK visa who is transiting airside then after re-clearing flight connections security from whichever country the colleague is flying from they will be in the sterile departures area.
Once the OP goes airside through security he will be in that same sterile common departure area - it is not segregated for international and domestic departures. Domestic departures have an additional biometric check at the gate but that’s it.
There is no way of exiting T5 airside departures without going through immigration, as it is not segregated and therefore everyones right of entry into the UK must be checked. To leave the sterile departures area, the steps are outlined in my previous post- wait for the hourly escort to immigration or take the transit to C and stay on back to immigration in T5A.
Edited by GCH on Monday 21st May 09:31
Are you sure you can stay on the tram at terminal "C"?
I have never tried but I have waited for the tram to arrive.
I seam to remember there is a security check where a staff member walks the tram to ensure it is empty prior to the doors closing for departing passengers then the doors opening for arrivals.
To clarify for others the doors are on opposite sides of the tram and never open at the same time so you can not cross from departures to arrivals.
I have never tried but I have waited for the tram to arrive.
I seam to remember there is a security check where a staff member walks the tram to ensure it is empty prior to the doors closing for departing passengers then the doors opening for arrivals.
To clarify for others the doors are on opposite sides of the tram and never open at the same time so you can not cross from departures to arrivals.
surveyor said:
Are they definitely flying out of T5? Some BA flights depart from T3 now.
Appreciate the continued responses. Yes, they're flying out of T5. But they are coming into T3, but their onward outbound is T5The transit to C gates, staying on, then coming back is the way forward. I've just spoken to a colleague, they've done the same before with no issues, so will do that.
Now to find the cheapest ticket to buy
Gassing Station | Holidays & Travel | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff