After a very reviving stay in Revivals (well after all, its not called that for nothing [:w]) I left for T1 and my Aer Lingus flight a tad later than normal at 12:30pm. It was going to be so easy. All I had to do was collect my boarding pass from the kiosk and present my baggage tags at the desk to be logged into the system. On my last few visits to T1 there had been a couple of guys ensuring that everyone used the kiosks so that the check-in desks were essentially bag-drops and check-in had been quiet. This had been true even at the peak period in the early morning rush so this would be a stroll in the park. It was utter mayhem! [:0] The bmi check-in area was thronged but then it always is and further along I was very nearly brained by a girl from a school party waiting to check-in for an Icelandair flight who, as I was passing, grabbed her stuffed hold-all and swung it up on to her shoulder without a backward glance. [V] However it was at the EI area that the chaos was at its worst. There was a long line stretching way, way back in fact so far back that I wasnt even sure if it was that line. Surely it was belonging to another airline and it would be clear at the desk area. [?] In any case I would just use the kiosk and get my baggage tags logged either at the ticket desk which was deserted, or at the gate. Oh, no, it WAS the EI line and to make matters worse they had positioned all the kiosks within the check-in area in front of the desks so that people checked themselves in and then went to the desk. To my mind it was pretty stupid as anyone who had only carry-on bags had to queue along with everyone else unless they had used OLCI and printed off their boarding passes. Whatever about using OLCI, not everyone has access to a printer when using it. I hadnt and now I had no alternative but to queue although at this stage it was still 90 minutes before my departure time.
While I was waiting I took the opportunity to look at what had been happening in T1 since my last visit in April. At that stage the central area of the concourse had been boarded up but now all was revealed. Many of the shops such as Tie Rack and the luggage shop had gone and along the wall was a row of check-in desks and in the central bit were rows of tensa barriers and plenty of self-service kiosks all for United. I hadnt realised they had moved to T1 but come to think of it I realised I hadnt seen a United plane at T3 on my travels.
I hadnt much time to peruse the terminal any further because at that moment someone came along and started pulling people for the Cork flight out of the line. All the kiosks were in use save one and I headed for it. What was stuck on it? Yup! An Out of Order sign! That was going to help reduce the queue, wasnt it? One was soon free and as my PNR had been so easy to memorise, within seconds I had my boarding pass in hand just as a desk became free. Another minute and my bags were logged into the EI system and I was free to go.
I had been made aware of the changes with regard to Departures whereby all passengers now went through what had been the International Departure gate in T1. It was busy but I have to say that it was the smoothest, easiest transit through Security that I have experienced in LHR outside of the Upper Class security channel in T3. [y] At the entrance to the area were 3 or 4 people distributing plastic bags for liquids to anyone who needed them and alongside them there was a table where a few people were transferring their things. However a guy was directing anyone who didnt need to do this around them and then sending them either individually or in family groups to one of the many desks with cameras to be photographed. That essentially worked as crowd control as once past that there was no wait at the security machines and even though the machine beeped as I went through and I had to have a secondary pat-down the whole process took only about 2-3 minutes. Once in the shopping area signs for the Republic of Ireland and the Channel Islands (and I cant remember where else) took us to the left. At this stage I realised that no-one had mentioned a gate, nor was any printed on my boarding pass but blind instinct took me to gates 80-90 which is where the flights usually go from. So, back to me turning left and going along a corridor to an area where there were three desks and yet another security desk where my passport was perused and the security guy looked at a screen before waving me through. I surmised that this was where they checked my newly taken photo and hopefully deleted it. Once out of the area we were in familiar territory and I realised this last check had taken place in what had been the old security area for the ROI and domestic flights. While the whole experience had been new to me it was swift and painless but it was almost with a sigh of relief that I was once more in familiar territory.
Or was it familiar? Apart from the fact that they were in the process of replacing the carpet at the beginning of the passageway leading to the gate area nothing had changed until we actually arrived at the gates. Anyone who has travelled from this part of LHR will know that this area is a corrugated metal tube, constructed at the height of IRA activity to keep us away from the rest of LHR. It was furnished with upholstered seats in lurid green much favoured by EI at that time but down through the years it has become so battered, torn and travel-stained that the last time I was through I felt it was a perfect disgrace. Where the seats werent stained they were torn and held together by duct tape. Its only saving grace was that it was parallel to the runway and afforded splendid views of arriving and departing aircraft (the highlight of which was Concorde). It was a stark area but over the years improvements were made. Toilets were added, then vending machines, followed by a coffee shop, a bar and plasma TV screens showing the BBC news channel. The latter three additions have only been relatively recent within the last 3-4 years. I became aware of the changes immediately. For starters there was new seating. Hurrah! Gone was the green upholstery and in its place were seats of gray and lilac made in whatever composite they make seats in nowadays.
My flight was due to leave from gate 84 and here a second development was apparent. Heretofore arriving passengers disembarked the plane and immediately mingled with departing ones but now a separate Arrivals lane had been put into place. The only problem was that it started at gate 84 and passengers from gate 86-90 still freely intermingled. The positioning of the toilets was preventing the corridor from extending to the end of the area. A sliding door was available to bisect the area and funnel arriving passengers from these gates into the corridor but the only problem was that it would prevent departing passengers from reaching them! In addition the infrastructure to this meant that the monitor announcing the Cork flight was blocked! The other thing was that the seating wasnt arranged in blocks at gate 84 but was ranged up alongside each of the walls so that we were facing in and watching all the passengers as they trooped past. It is a very recent addition and I would hope a work in progress. When the inbound flight arrived at the gate there was a lot of confusion among the passengers. Many out of force of habit still turned left and made their way through the departing passengers while others seemed unsure as to where to go and blocked up the area. I noticed though, that passengers coming in from the other gates seemed to be able to manage it better. Perhaps the signage was better further along.
After that there is little more to say. The flight to ORK was full, the one empty seat being the middle one in my row. [:D] We were ready to push back on time but were caught with the runway changeover and so had to wait for the best part of 30 minutes for our slot. However once on our way there was very little delay in taking off. The flight was uneventful and my bags came out very quickly. [^] Although technically I should go through the Green Channel since my bags had not been cleared in LHR there was no-one there from Customs so it was a very happy honey lamb who trotted out to meet her chauffeur and head for home.
