After a flight of 12 hours from Bangkok, I arrived at Heathrow Airport at 7pm, February 16 to connect to a flight on Air Canada on February 17 at 11.10am. It is a long layover.
Heathrow is bright, brisk and brusque. No smiles but it functions. I landed at Terminal 2 and was told that only Terminal 3 stays open overnight. Took the bus for Terminal 3 noting that the automatic glass doors, at the wait area, only open when the driver comes and keys in his/her pass at the receiver. Clever control especially in cold weather.
At Terminal 3, I did my ablutions in the clean toilet and set about exploring the area. Eateries and shops open until 9.30pm. After that the cleaning and security staff take over. I settled down in one of the departure lounges covering my legs with a blanket taken from Thai Air. The idea of the blanket came from seeing a blanket, from another airline, covering a passenger in transit at the Bangkok airport. About 11pm, as I was brushing my teeth, a lady staff member told me that an immigration officer would like to see me. He checked my passport and asked me to join the dozen passengers staying overnight. We were put in one departure lounge which has an attached bathroom. We were offered coffee and tea but I asked for water. A few minutes before that, another security officer brought in an intoxicated man who was refused boarding Virgin Air bound for Lagos. He was tall, dark and drunk and kept saying " I love you " to the not so tall but calm security guy. A shade before 5 am, the same lady staff member came to rouse us, giving our Virgin Air passenger extra time. She and a colleague were to send us on our way. Meanwhile, the laggard unzipped a pocket on his carry-on and claimed that his passport was not there. The lady called her supervisor who had brought him in and was told that it was in the ex-drunk's coat pocket. Finding it he became apologetic and claimed over and over "I was stressed out, stressed out man."in a very loud voice. He explained that he came from NY in the morning and his Lagos flight was in the late evening. He became agitated and the matronly lady had to tell him to calm down before she will take him to the Virgin Air counter to arrange, for him, another flight. She told him that it would still be that one an only late evening flight and he was not to pass his time drinking. Or else.
Heathrow Hive is Business but can be benign.
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