Situation at Heathrow

[disappointed101]

Has anyone flown from terminal 2 recently? What’s the situation now? Is 3 hours in advance enough or will we need more time than that? Due to fly Saturday early afternoon

I’m due to fly tomorrow morning, and I’m getting there 1h45 before take off. Can report back on how long it takes me to clear security. Travelling on hand luggage only.

Fly out on Friday, flew back yesterday, T2. Absolutely fine, queues normal

Three hours is plenty

It's very hit and miss. Personally I would rather allow additional time than risk missing a flight - it's not as simple as just getting on the next flight. I would aim to arrive 4 hours before departure.

It seems very mixed doesn’t it?

My friend flew Sunday with 2 kids and said it was absolutely fine. She got there 3 hours early expecting the worst and she said it was just normal. Annoyingly they wouldn't open check in until 2 hours before so a lot of people were just sitting around waiting which is making it look busier.

I have just gone through T2 and in departure lounge now.

From taxi to past security in 15 minutes. BUT that was mainly because my section of the queue were pulled into a new line that had just opened, and where they were also trialling the new scanners (previously seen them at LCY) which mean you don’t need to take any liquids or electronics out of your bags.

The normal line looked about 30-40 minutes long, so not too bad.

The check-in queues, however, were horrendous. Queueing started outside the terminal. It didn’t look like they were moving too fast either.

So, if you’re hand luggage only you’ll be absolutely fine with 1.5/2 hours. If you’re checking in luggage or still need to print your boarding pass, I’d recommend more than that!

Oh yikes. Thanks for the updates! Were they separated into queues for different airlines or was it one huge queue?

It seemed to be separate. Some lines were shorter than others. I also noticed people were already queuing for airlines that didn’t have any flights scheduled until 4 hours later, so people turning up too early is definitely part of the problem. Their bag drop desks hadn’t even opened. I’d aim to get there before they open for your flight, but not hours and hours earlier.

Thanks! Am aiming for 3 hours

Manchester airport asks people not to arrive more than 3 hours early so thats what Im doing. Check to see if Heathrow has advice

Update. Left with being 3 hours ahead in mind but traffic was much better than expected so arrived 3 1/2 in advance. Went past terminal 3 in the bus and the queue was out the door. Arrived at T2 and the queue for check in wasn’t long but it was slow. Probably only about 30-40 min wait though. Security was only like 10 minutes but it appeared they had just opened another few lines. Very lucky. So sat in departures with 2 1/2 hrs left 🤔. I guess you never know.