Leeds Bradford: Airport Security, Immigration & Border Control

[White Heather]

Yet there are some who would have us believe that LBA is worse than other airports. I had a similar experience recently at Heathrow Ternimal 1 where they had just 3 Immigration Desks working to cope with all terninal transfer passengers. After a night flight from Canada, standing in a queue is the last thng you need. In fact only 2 ended up working as 1 of the 3 ended up dealing with someone who had a passport issue, leaving a few hundred passengers trying to get through just 2 desks. Some had connections to flights just about to leave and after complaining they were fast tracked through - which meant they went from the back of the queue to the front! That kept on happening and the rest of us just stood there going nowhere!

 

[News Guru]

[textarea]Pensioners' tough time at airport

I'm writing to see if anybody else has been affected by the apparent change of tactics by the Customs and Excise people at Leeds Bradford Airport.

Some very good friends of ours, pensioners like me and my wife, have been travelling abroad for the last 30 years without any trouble whatsoever.

Anyway they arrived back last week from their holiday to Majorca and they were immediately ushered into a private room and asked if they had brought anything back which they had, six packets of rolling tobacco.

Now the limit is five packets per person, so they were under the limit. But they were then asked if it was for personal use only, to which he replied 'yes'.

So the Customs officer opened one of the packets and asked him to roll a cigarette in front of them.

As he is a non-smoker and he had bought it for his two sons, he was then made to feel like a criminal with both having to hand their passports over. And because he had lied, he had to hand the tobacco over.

If I bring a bottle of whisky back do I have to prove I will drink it myself? Surely this cannot be right.

Anyway with the way things are going at the moment, with the Chuckle Brothers running the country, soon we pensioners won't be able to afford to go abroad anyway.

Kevin Jones, Hetton Road, Leeds

Source[/textarea]

 

[pilot_737]

So does this mean your not allowed to bring home presents?!
The question that should have been asked is 'Do you intend to supply'

Anyway is Tobacco illegal? NO. Did this passenger have too many packets? NO.
What a joke!

 

[yorkshire]

i think its bad what they did to the old couple ,the customs guy needs to be re-trained or put on other duties.

if i was the old couple they would be a letter of complaint going in to airport ..you dont treat people like that.

 

[White Heather]

Why complain to the airport? The airport do not control the Immigration Service. They need to complain to them - in fact the best way of getting a decent response from any Government Department is to complain to either their MP or the one that covers the area in which the incident occurred - ie Yeadon.

 

[Project_Griffin]

Firstly, hello from myself and the rest of the team. We have been browsing this site for a while and we are very impressed with some peoples knowledge about LBA !

For those of you who don't know about Project Griffin, why not have a look at our lovely new website, I will post the link below.

If you fancy coming to one of our FREE awareness days get in touch through the website, they are run locally to the airport and are open to anybody wishing to come. We have some brilliant speakers from The Royal Armouries, the British Army bomb disposal team & the North East Counter Terrorism Unit to name a few !

We speak to Enthusiasts on a daily basis whilst carrying out our perimeter checks, who are helping us spread the good word of Project Griffin, some have even been on the Awareness Days themselves.

Any questions let us know,

Alastair
LBA Policing Team

http://www.projectgriffinlbia.org.uk

 

[WYIA]

Mondays bomb attack in Moscow may well be due to current tentions in that region however, i have often felt that check-in halls & meet & greet (arrivals halls) are some of the most Vulnerable & at times busiest areas of any terminal!

You can walk in to any of these areas un-checked and cause a great deal of Destruction & carnage within seconds!

Is it time such vulnerable areas open to the public such as airport terminals and large train stations step up security to eliminate a repeat of this. Anybody who has flown to Turkey in the last decade will have noted that all entrance points have a security area.

I cant help that feel that what happend in Moscow will be used as a template now for future attacks. Is it not time that we had the upper hand for once.

What does everybody else think?

This is a generalised post that should have been placed here Any comments in response to this post should be made to the worldwide section of forums4airports.

 

[Galaxy]

I was told that there was an on-the-ground incident a few weeks ago that involved a member of the public scaling the fence by the long stay car park and entering the runway area. I heard this from a good authority - has anyone else heard about it?

 

[lbia]

Yep, it was kept on the hush to keep the media away but basically what you said was true, got over the fence and cut his arm from the barbed wire, he tried to get onto several aircraft and then the terminal. He was arrested under the terrorism act.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Airports have massive security at the 'front door' whereas 'side doors' or 'back doors' are often the Achilles Heel.

 

[lbia]

That is so true, personally I think there should be more a lot more patrols around the fence, it does prove the point that if someone does want to get in, they can and will. In the case of the guy who did get it, he was shall we say, on a different planet thanks to a cocktail of 'medicines' he had taken. He set off after a Ryanair down the runway, then came over and tried to board a Jet2 737 on stand 9, then came over trying to get into the terminal. One of the Jet2 girls opened the door and took him into a separate area while the police came. I almost felt sorry for the guy, he didn't know what the hell was going on, he was cut from the barbed wire and in a pretty poor state. He knew he had done something wrong but worryingly said some things that I will not post on here, but were of concern.

 

[Aviador]

The actual perimeter of the airfield is around 4.35 miles. You would need a small army or personnel to guard that kind of distance. The walkable sections of the outside of the perimeter fence is considerably further because of the various obstacles such as the Yeadon Dam, the AETC factory, Multiflight, farmers fields, golf courses etc etc. Like you say, if someone wants to get in they will. It's all down to how quick the authorities can respond if they do, which I would say, generally speaking is pretty quick.

 

[Aviador]

I've been told the majority of staff at Leeds Bradford airport border & immigration will not be striking tomorrow.

 

[lbaspotter]

That's good news Aviador. Hopefully that will keep any other delays to a minimum while some of the bigger UK airports and Ports are expecting some form of delays.

Don’t think the airport wanted more bad press at this time after what’s been going on recently. The airport needs a good news day and hopefully that will come sooner rather and later.

 

[icarus91]

as menstioned in another post, what are the chances of aircraft diverting into Leeds with all the others been on strike? any chance, maybe a cheeky 767 or maybe 747? 😉

 

[lbaspotter]

Well the airport has just put up the following information regarding tomorrow public sector strike action.

Leeds Bradford Airport
If people are worried about flights tomorrow we have been advised to expect minimal to no disruption to service, but please do check before you travel at http://goo.gl/YATRq of course we will keep you updated if the situation changes

Source: http://www.facebook.com/OfficialLeedsBradfordAirport

 

[Aviador]

Well the airport has just put up the following information regarding tomorrow public sector strike action.

Leeds Bradford Airport
If people are worried about flights tomorrow we have been advised to expect minimal to no disruption to service, but please do check before you travel at http://goo.gl/YATRq of course we will keep you updated if the situation changes

Source: http://www.facebook.com/OfficialLeedsBradfordAirport

That is the official line but unofficially there are several Border Control Officers who are planning to strike so there may be some disruption. LBA is traditionally very quiet on Wednesdays anyway especially through the winter months so I would think any disruption will be limited.

The BBC reports "Passengers arriving at Leeds Bradford International airport were warned by the UK Border Agency to expect delays."

 

[Aviador]

as menstioned in another post, what are the chances of aircraft diverting into Leeds with all the others been on strike? any chance, maybe a cheeky 767 or maybe 747? 😉

I don't think we'll be seeing anything extra to be honest. Most airlines have either rescheduled flights or asked passengers to rebook.

 

[News Guru]

[textarea]Leeds Bradford International Airport (LBIA) recognises outstanding achievement.

Leeds Bradford Airport and Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust joined forces to mark the achievement of security supervisor, James Webber, who has helped save two lives this year at the terminal.

James, who works for Omni-serv, the company which provides security services at the airport, used an Automatic External Defibrillator (AED) to assist passengers with suspected heart attacks. Both passengers have since gone on to make a full recovery.

Since James received his training he has assisted several medical emergencies and helped save a total of three lives at the airport, where he has worked for the past four years as a security supervisor.

Heart defibrillators were first installed at Leeds Bradford Airport 11 years ago as part of the Department for Health’s “Saving Lives” campaign, an initiative to install defibrillators in public places to help reduce the amount of deaths caused by cardiac arrest. So far nine defibrillators have been introduced in and around the airport, both landside and airside.

Although the training is voluntary, typically 40 staff a year attend the sessions, which teach staff how to use the equipment, administer CPR and oxygen.

John Parkin, Chief Executive at Leeds Bradford Airport, said, “James has highlighted how effective this training and equipment is in helping to save lives through early intervention of suspected heart attacks. The safety of our passengers is of primary importance to us and we are committed to supporting this initiative with Yorkshire Ambulance Service. Having this kind of specialised equipment at our disposal not only gives passengers and staff reassurance but it means we can provide the necessary treatment prior to the arrival of a paramedic or ambulance.”

James Webber said, “I’m proud to have been able to assist these passengers and offer support and assistance at such a critical time. I’d highly recommend this voluntary programme as it gives you the basic skills and confidence to deal with a medical emergency.”

Read more[/textarea]

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Airport security staff around the world are frequently vilified by passengers - often unfairly - so it's good to see their positive work reflected in this public way.

My wife and I recently transited through Gatwick North Terminal and one of our bags appeared suspicious in the X-ray machine so was subject to a hand search.

The culprit was a camera wire but the male and female security staff members who searched the bag were efficient, polite, friendly and with the the perfect customer attitude.