I’m a young professional who lives in London, and I’ve worked and/or studied here for a few years. Over these years, I’ve had the pleasure of using Heathrow Airport countless times. I actually really like Heathrow Airport a lot of the time – it doesn’t compare in terms of sleekness or amenities to most of the southeast Asian airports I grew up around, especially when flying economy, though I find it to be operationally efficient, with a few limited (but extremely significant) exceptions.
I have a Hong Kong passport, which isn’t one of the eGate eligible nationalities. The UK is one of a few countries that doesn’t check or stamp passports on departure (I believe Canada, Mexico, and the United States are the other three), so departing is always painless. They do stamp passports on arrival, and…boy oh boy, the experience wildly varies with what passport you have, and what time of day you land.
I figured I’d write up a post specifically about landing in Heathrow as someone without a British passport. Here are my thoughts on what you should do before your next flight into Heathrow Airport, whether you’re here to work or study, or you’re just visiting.
Get a seat on the right side on approach into Heathrow
First things first. One of my absolute favourite final approaches in the world is at Heathrow Airport. While many airlines have landing paths dependent on weather, a vast majority of the time you’ll fly over Central London when landing into Heathrow, as 90% of the airport’s flights land from the east. This is because the UK’s wind direction prevailingly comes from the southwest, so planes flying into and out of Heathrow get a tailwind with the prevailing wind direction.
The flight path of my flight yesterday
Heathrow is located just west of most of London, and the runway runs due east to west. So for a flight landing from the east, this means that the final approach takes a straight longitudinal line over the city of London. Of course the exact approach path depends on your flight, though mostly you’ll be flying over O2 and Canary Wharf, to the Shard, Tower Bridge and the London Eye, past the Chelsea area, and you’ll see the Wembley Arch around a minute before touchdown. This is the case regardless of whether you’re flying from – planes tend to U-turn into landing from the east side even if flying from the Americas.
London was the first city I’d ever been to in Europe, and I remember flying into Heathrow Airport and appreciating the view for the first time in August 2015. I re-live that wonder every time I fly into Heathrow with this approach, and it really never gets old. Don’t just take my word for it – on my flight from Stuttgart yesterday – I was seated near the back of the plane, so I could see (mostly German) people young and old gaping at the view as we descended into Heathrow.
View upon landing into Heathrow Airport
Meanwhile, on the left side you’ve got good views over Clapham and Croydon, though it’s not quite the same (apologies for the photo below, as I was flying premium economy, so didn’t have a good view over the wing anyway).
View over Clapham and Croydon when landing into Heathrow
If you don’t fly into Heathrow that often, it’s so well worth a small seat selection fee just to get a window seat on the right side. Paying for the privilege of having an aerial tour of a major city is so rare and coveted, yet it comes with the airfare when you’re landing into Heathrow. There are flights I’ve booked on A220s (with a 2-3 configuration, with two seats on the left side) where I’ve purposefully sat in the 3 just to have a proper view over London when landing into Heathrow Airport.
I’ve flown into Heathrow at least 15-20 times over the past few years, and I can only name a single time when we landed from the west side. Of course there’s no way of telling what the wind direction is for sure before your flight, though I’d recommend getting a seat on the right side either way.
Try your best not to land at night
I find Heathrow all-round to be a pleasant airport to come in and out of, and find it to be well-run, with one major exception – arrivals immigration. Arrivals immigration can last from anywhere between 20 seconds and 4 hours, and the latter is extremely unpleasant (to the point where the airport staff hand out bottles of water, just because they know how dire the situation is). I actually find customs officers and airport staff to be extremely friendly and well-intentioned at Heathrow – it’s just a combination of cheaper slots taken by less affluent airlines in the evening (which coincidentally come from countries that the UK doesn’t have eGate arrangements for), and the fact that Border Force is generally understaffed.
All UK, EU/EEA, US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Singapore and South Korea passport holders have access to the airport’s automated eGates. Wait times can take up to 10-15 minutes, though it’s never terrible. The real problem is when you don’t have one of these passports.
After flying into Heathrow numerous times, I think I’ve found a pattern. I also find my experience in this regard to be pretty consistent across all terminals, and don’t think one is worse than the other. Most of Heathrow’s arrivals from non-eGate destinations arrive between 7-8:30 PM in the evening. I’ve not individually counted these flights yet, though every single time I’ve waited more than two hours at immigration has been around dinnertime, where I’ve left the airport at around 10:30-11 PM.
There have been other peak hours over the daytime where I’ve waited a while (e.g. Cathay Pacific has three flights in the morning land within an hour of each other, and most of those passengers won’t have eGate access), though at those times the wait isn’t usually any more than an hour. Heathrow banks its flights most in the morning and evening, though many of the morning flights are from U.S. destinations.
On top of this, Emirates, Etihad and Qatar Airways all operate A380s to Heathrow Airport, so if you’re landing straight after one of those flights, expect there to be a sizeable queue at the airport.
Heathrow T2 at 8:30 PM
No other London airport I’ve experienced has queues anywhere near this bad – for comparison, the worst wait I’ve seen at Gatwick Airport is 45 minutes. This also doesn’t matter if you’re flying longhaul, or from an EU country – anyone coming from outside the UK or Ireland will have to queue to get into the UK (the UK treats Ireland arrivals as domestic arrivals).
If you’re choosing between one of a few frequencies to Heathrow and don’t have eGate access, my advice would be to avoid landing in the evening.
Consider getting Registered Traveller Status (if you can)
The Registered Traveller Status is available to select passport holders who either hold a visa to enter the UK, or have been in the UK four times in the last 24 months and don’t need a visa to travel. These countries are:
- Botswana, Seychelles
- Brunei, Hong Kong, Macao, Malaysia, Maldives, Taiwan
- Andorra, Monaco, Vatican City State
- Israel
- Bahamas, Mexico, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
- Nauru, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Tonga
- Argentina, Belize, Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay and Uruguay
If you’re on a Graduate/HPI visa, an EEA family permit, or if you’re on a British National (Overseas) visa, you can’t get Registered Traveller Status (unfortunately I got caught out by this in early 2023, when I switched to a British National Overseas visa to open up my career options in the UK). There are a couple of other exceptions that you can see on this website.
Use the UK eGates as a Registered Traveller
I will say, however, that unless you transit through Heathrow (specifically) very often, it’s not really worth the £70/year to get Registered Traveller Status. For most of the day, the queue at Heathrow (or any other airport) isn’t long enough to justify paying a hefty yearly fee just to cut immigration times slightly. However, if you’ve got a few trips into Heathrow, the £70 could be well worth the time and stress savings.
Don’t take the Heathrow Express unless you have to
My preferred way of travelling to and from Heathrow involves the Piccadilly line, which goes straight past the city center, and costs £5.80 (HK$61). I’d recommend taking the Piccadilly Line in most cases if you’re going into Central London, especially if you’re based in west London.
I can get behind paying slightly more for the much more pleasant Elizabeth line, which can get me home to Canary Wharf 20 minutes faster for £10.50 (HK$111) with a railcard, without an interchange – it goes through different parts of the city center, and I can appreciate demand to Heathrow is quite high-yield. The Elizabeth Line is pretty good for getting to East London quickly, and while I take no pleasure in parting with £10-15 for it, I can understand the cost.
The Heathrow Express gets to Paddington 12 minutes quicker than the Elizabeth Line, and doesn’t go further than Paddington. It’s certainly priced differently, partially because of its marketing ploy as the airport’s “Airport Express” equivalent. Please don’t buy a full-fare £25 ticket for the Heathrow Express – it really, really isn’t worth the time savings. The Heathrow Express has no other destinations beyond Paddington, so doesn’t make sense if you’re heading to most of London.
If the Heathrow Express really is ultra-convenient for you and you have a railcard, buy a ticket online with your railcard, where you’ll at least get 1/3 off the fare (this is £16.67/HK$177). The Heathrow Express used to offer much cheaper fares in line with Piccadilly Line pricing if you booked very far in advance, though they don’t do this anymore.
The Heathrow Express should only be taken to move between terminals (it’s free to take any TfL route to do so)
Conclusion
When landing into Heathrow Airport, pick a seat on the right side, don’t take the Heathrow Express, try not to arrive at night, and get Registered Traveller status if you go through often. As one of the world’s biggest airports, I generally find Heathrow to be quite easy to navigate, and people to be surprisingly friendly. Just be warned that the airport can be horrible to pass through at times, especially if you don’t have eGate access.
What’s your relationship with Heathrow Airport?