The world’s most intrusive airport?
I already make a point of avoiding Heathrow, one of the worst airports in the world. (My next flight, for example will be from London City via Schiphol in Amsterdam.)
As if being herded through that godforsaken monument to misery wasn’t bad enough, there’s now one more reason to stay away: every domestic traveller through Terminal 5 will be fingerprinted from when it opens next month, with Terminal 1 following shortly.
According to BAA, it’s the government’s idea. There’s a surprise. From BAA’s site:
These security measures are a Government requirement. Passengers who refuse to provide their data, or to validate it prior to boarding, will be denied entry and will not be able to board their flight.
Am I the only one who still thinks that fingerprinting is for criminals, and has no place in daily life? What the hell happened to the free society that I grew up in?
Sod this, I’m off to North Korea. By boat, I guess.
2008-03-08 18:31 UTC. Comments: 1.
George Orwell
Wrote at 2008-03-09 02:41 UTC using Opera 9.20 on Windows Vista:
Don’t you just love how the BAA website says how“But today Heathrow is vulnerable to foreign competition.”
& they go and do something evil and unnecessary like this?
I’ll be flying via Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Paris – anywhere but LHR.
I just don’t understand – if incoming international passengers can go directly to departing domestic gates, why can’t they just go through domestic arrivals and avoid immigration at T5?
Why don’t they do something quicker and less intrusive than fingerprints like giving departing domestic passengers a one-time bracelet like at concerts?