Heathrow Woes
There has been a lot of recent comment about Heathrow airport, and BAA defending it by saying that the problems arise out of the sheer weight of passenger numbers.
This is nonsense. Arriving back into Terminal 4 from Tel Aviv (a new immaculate, very clean airport) we waited and waited for the luggage to arrive. We had plenty of time to look at the carousel. The carpeting on the top of the carousel was filthy, and the large sign about customs allowances had a sizeable stain on it. It was an appalling welcome to the United Kingdom.
We now hear from business people that such is the unattractiveness of Heathrow, on top of the various delays there, that they have day meetings in places like Amsterdam or Frankfurt instead.
Airports are seen by many as the window on a country. Yes passenger numbers are enormous and growing, but the appearance of parts of Heathrow is a disgrace.