Geoff Milne

Like we all do, I was looking forward to my annual break but as usual Heathrow and its well-publicised congestion problems were a concern.

I have to say that both my arrival and departure experiences were decidedly negative at what must be fast becoming the world’s least favoured international airport.
I am even forced to agree for the first time in my life with Ken Livingstone, Mayor of London, that Heathrow Airport is an absolute disgrace to the UK. By any set of criteria, Heathrow is no longer a source of national pride but the airport to avoid at all costs.
Such is the deterioration in services that I have vowed within reason to avoid Heathrow like the plague until Terminal 5 opens in 2008.
Up until a few years ago, Heathrow managed to deliver a pleasant airport experience if one used only one terminal.
But the overall complex nature of what is a hotchpotch of airport facilities continues to fail miserably in delivering ease of use and reduced waiting times, the typical priorities for passengers.
And the cleanliness of Terminal 4 is lamentable and leaves much to be desired.
I even thought of having a go at cleaning the air-bridge that connected up with the gleaming 747 I had just touched down. Mumbling through the inadequate signage that leads one through the labyrinthine nightmare of finding immigration control, I have seen better control of cattle in a stockyard.
Despite the queues and a delay of 25 minutes in being admitted into the country of my birth, I then had to run the gauntlet of baggage handling and the Heathrow scrum.
Despite my tardy progress through immigration, my baggage had failed to surface.
When I managed to locate an official I was told that there are insufficient carousels to meet the early morning demand. Grateful that my baggage had actually arrived, I left the terminal irritated and shamed by the miserable airport facilities and boarded a minibus to find the car hire depot. Interminable queuing at this vehicle outpost on the perimeter almost made me rant but not quite rave.
Now, I travel around a bit so have experienced the shiny new terminals and some of the older facilities and can compare.  Frankfurt, Schiphol, Hong Kong and Dubai always deliver a consistently high level of service.
My favourite airport is Hong Kong which serves more than 40 million passengers a year. What is so ironic is that the British helped design and build an airport that is consistently rated by global passengers as perhaps the best in the world.