A group of Dundee passengers were left “stateless” at Heathrow Airport after a border blunder meant they were locked out of the UK.
About 20 people are thought to have travelled on the Loganair flight from Dundee to London on Wednesday morning.
When they arrived, they were transported by bus from the plane to international arrivals instead of domestic arrivals.
The passengers had already been dropped off before the mistake was realised.
None of them had passports with them due to it being a domestic flight – meaning they could not gain re-entry to the UK.
‘The bus driver must have been having a bad day’
Businessman Chris van der Kuyl was among those on the 7am flight.
He says passengers were left “stateless” as they waited to enter the country – reminiscent of the Tom Hanks film The Terminal, where a man ends up living in an airport because he cannot travel into or out of the US.
Chris told The Courier: “The bus driver must have been having a bad day.
“We were dropped off at international arrivals instead of domestic.
“Because we were all on a domestic flight, none of us had passports with us, meaning we couldn’t enter the UK where we were dropped off.
“This has been really frustrating. People missed meetings because of the length of time it took to actually get us through border control and into London.”
He said that airport authorities decided the best way to deal with the situation was to walk the passengers to the domestic arrivals area.
But when they got there, the doors were locked, meaning they still could not leave the airport.
Loganair passengers ‘stuck on wrong side of UK border’
Passengers were then forced to wait a further half an hour before the doors were finally opened.
Mr van der Kuyl took to Twitter to complain, posting: “Great service from Dundee to Heathrow today.
“After arriving late we were bussed to the international door.
“The whole plane is now ‘stateless’ and stuck the wrong side of the UK border.”
He eventually posted a video showing passengers being let through the doors.
And we’re out. pic.twitter.com/IJGFbJR7vi
— Chris van der Kuyl CBE (@chrisvdk) June 7, 2023
Also among those affected was Dundee solicitor Scott Milne.
Scott, who works for Thorntons, says he is laying the blame squarely with the people at Heathrow.
He said: “Loganair got me to London so I can’t hold them responsible.
“This lies with the people at Heathrow who Loganair sub-contract to to get passengers to the correct terminal which they failed to do.”
He added: “The situation meant I missed my first meeting in the City by a mile.”
Loganair responded to apologise but said it was being dealt with by staff at Heathrow.
The airline tweeted: “I apologise for this issue, this flight experienced a 17-minute delay due to slot issues.
“Please contact any staff at Heathrow who will be happy to help and to resolve this matter, I apologise that staff had directed you to the wrong location.”
‘Dundee is part of the UK’
Chris replied: “Maybe (contractor) Menzies should get bus drivers that know Dundee is part of the UK.”
A spokeswoman for Loganair later said: “Loganair apologises for the disruption caused to customers’ travel plans as a result of the delays on the ground for our Dundee to London Heathrow service this morning.
“We worked with our partners to ensure this was resolved promptly.”
The Courier has also contacted Heathrow for comment.
It comes just weeks after flights between Dundee and Heathrow launched for the first time, when the route was moved from London City Airport.
Meanwhile, The Courier told earlier this week how several Tayside residents were among tourists trapped on the Portuguese island of Madeira – when flights were cancelled amid severe weather.
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