6 Hour Airport Check-ins ???- Bullish for intl air travel
This is LONDON 19/04/04 - Traffic & travel section
Passengers warned of six-hour check-ins
By Jonathan Prynn, Evening Standard Consumer Affairs Editor
Passengers were today warned to prepare for unprecedented six-hour check-ins for transatlantic flights this summer. New security checks required by the US authorities will lead to chaos at Heathrow and Gatwick, a leading charter airline said. The checks - known as the Advanced Passenger Information System - will be mandatory from this summer, adding crucial extra minutes to the check-in process, said Travel Trade Gazette magazine. The head of regulation at holiday firm First Choice, one of Britain's biggest, said: "If it takes an extra half a minute per passenger to collect this information, you are looking at an extra three hours' check-in for a full 767. This would create an enormous number of people congreating at airports." Passengers are already told to allow three hours for checkin, causing huge queues at Heathrow and Gatwick.