To minimise the wait, travellers are asked to take only minimal hand baggage. British Airways is telling
travellers they are allowed only “one small personal item of hand baggage that can fit under the seat in front
of you”. Another, larger piece can be checked in free of charge, though this in turn may lead to disruption if
the baggage-drop counters cannot cope.
So what should you do? Heathrow recommends you get to the terminal two hours before departure for
short-haul flights and three hours ahead for long-haul trips (as an aside, I am not sure why there should be a
difference; everyone has to go through the same queues, and in my experience long-haul passengers have
less cabin baggage and therefore tend to be speedier).
Turning up even earlier, eg at 5am, could see the security search lines at their shortest. The trouble is, as we
have seen on previous occasions, is that if everyone decides to turn up ridiculously early then chaos results
as a kind of self-fulfilling prophecy that brings about the airport to a standstill.
So I suggest you plan to arrive two hours early, as the airport urges. If it is mayhem, and you miss your flight
- or it is cancelled – then the airline is responsible for getting you to Athens as swiftly as possible. Wizz Air
and easyJet have afternoon flights from Luton and Gatwick respectively. If a seat is available, your airline
will need to pay for it.