An economist claims the “formerly-developed” UK is “failing” because of the transit issues he had at London Heathrow. While LHR is not a passenger-friendly airport and the signage is tricky, ultimately, this was a very avoidable issue had he just read the signs a bit more closely.

Economist Says UK Is Failing After Difficult Connection In London Heathrow Airport

You can start by reading Noah Smith’s own words in their full context:

Today, I made the mistake of flying from Dublin to Paris via London’s Heathrow Airport. This was a remarkably stupid move on my part, given that London, and by extension Heathrow, is located in the failing formerly-developed country known as “the UK”.

I almost paid dearly for this oversight.

My layover was 1 hour and 30 minutes. As soon as my flight from Dublin arrived at Terminal 2, I began looking around for my connecting flight to Paris, which was located in Terminal 5. A helpful immigration officer pointed me in the direction of a free train that I could take to Terminal 5. After walking for about 15 minutes through a labyrinthine maze of tunnels, I arrived at this train.

The train required me to get a ticket for the free trip to Terminal 5. After standing in line at a machine, I pressed a button that dispensed this ticket. I then used the ticket to go through a turnstyle. Once on the platform (which was poorly labeled), I discovered — by asking some locals -+ that the trains for Terminal 4 do not actually go to Terminal 5. (This had not been apparent from any signs or other information in the train station.) I would thus have to wait 17 minutes for the dedicated train to Terminal 5.

And so wait I did. About 20 minutes later I arrived at Terminal 5, and discovered that I was in the Departures area. Despite the fact that I was transferring, I would have to go through airport security again. So I waited in line for security, watching other people struggle with the automated boarding pass scanners. Finally I reached the scanners, and when I scanned my boarding pass, it registered an error, and told me to see a British Airways employee. (Sadly, my Aer Lingus flight was operated by British Airways.)

So I went to the British Airways departures counter, and after a while I found the line I was supposed to stand in. I waited 10 minutes in the line, and was finally allowed to see a British Airways employee.

The British Airways employee informed me that I had already missed my flight, since boarding was at 12:15 and it was now 12:17. I argued that boarding would probably last more than two minutes, and that I might still have time to make the flight, whose departure was scheduled for 12:55. She seemed skeptical of this argument, but I finally persuaded her to help me give it a try.

Returning me to the security line, the British Airways woman told me to wait in the line (which would have taken 15 minutes). I begged her to let me jump the queue, and she did, explaining my plight to a South Asian security employee who let me through the rope barrier to the front of the line.

This South Asian man is actually the hero of our story.

When I cut to the front of the security line, a security employee barked at me to get back. The lovely South Asian man then barked at her to let me through, and his confident air of command carried the day. I was let through, and the South Asian man even showed me how to use the security machine so that it would definitely not stop me from entering. He told me to tell his colleagues at the baggage scanner that I was allowed to jump to the front of the queue.

I raced to the baggage scanning line, which looked like it would have taken an additional 20 minutes, and simply ducked under the barriers and cut to the front of the line. I apologized to the employee there and told him my flight was already boarding. He told me that in that case, I had already missed my flight, and it wasn’t even worth continuing. But I told him that his colleague (the aforementioned South Asian man) had instructed me to go through security anyway, and he accepted this and let me through. I had to do an extra scan of my shoes, but made it through OK.

I then ran to my gate, ducking and weaving around various travelers. When I made it to the gate, I found that the flight was still boarding, and they let me through. I then spent 20 minutes standing in line on the jetway.

Naturally, my bag didn’t arrive in Paris.

Normally, when you arrive in T2, the signs make it very clear. You get off the plane and follow the purple signs for flight connections. If you arrive in the B gates, you have a very long walk…

Ultimately, you go upstairs and have three choices: head right for T2 flight connections, left for the UK Border, or straight ahead and then back downstairs to catch a bus to Terminals 3, 4, or 5.

Seems so easy…but this case was a little different. Smith was arriving from Dublin on Aer Lingus. Although Ireland is another country (since 1949…), Ireland and UK are part of a Common Travel Area (CTA) and so arriving from Dublin is akin to arriving on a domestic flight.

Passengers arrive differently than the pictures above, bypassing the UK Border, but they are still faced with two doors: one for flight connections, one for arrivals.

Smith took the wrong door. Instead, he chose arrivals and wound up outside baggage claim, where he had to take a train to T5 instead of an airside bus. That’s on him…or perhaps the immigration officer he mentions.

He winds up barely making his flight and his baggage does not make it. Yes, a 90-minute connection in Heathrow is tough even on the best of days.

> Read More: 1-Hour Connection In London Heathrow…What Could Go Wrong?
> Read More: UPDATE – My 60-Minute London Heathrow Connection Went Sideways…

But is this all proof the UK is failing? Smith certainly thinks so:

Starting to realize that the reason things don’t work in the UK is cultural. British people respond to reports of dysfunction by spinning fantasies, making excuses, and – most of all – by screeching insults and leveling accusations. No one actually *tries* to make anything work.

Personally, I think LHR is woefully designed and not at all passenger-friendly. I also think the UK Air Passenger Duty (APD) is extortion and that the security checks for transit in LHR are ridiculous.

But it’s my choice to travel through LHR and I don’t make broad cultural sweeping pronouncements based on the airport. It’s also on me if I don’t follow signs.

So ultimately, yeah, Noah, follow the purple signs next time.

Hat Tip: One Mile At A Time