When Heathrow goes to sleep

WHILE travelling to North America via London one may land oneself in an awkward situation of spending a night at Heathrow, one of the busiest airports in Europe, as the modern and passenger friendly air terminal goes to sleep at 10.

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The shopping arcade lowers shutters, and food courts, including restaurants, too shut down. No flights are permitted before 4.30 am. 

Though Heathrow has five terminals, all overnight passengers are required to be in Terminal 3 for the night stay. The inter-terminal bus service brings them to Terminal 3 where they can laze around in the shopping arcade or relax in the central hall with adequate seating till the shutters are lowered.

As employees of airlines, airport authority, shopkeepers and others start leaving at the end of the day,  the airport, which handles nearly 70 million passengers a year, begins to wear a deserted look. Passengers in transit, however, get a pleasant surprise when security personnel on duty offer them a place for a nap with toilet facilities.

“Please, do not sleep,” they advise, with a promise to “move you to some other place”. They ask for basic details like citizenship and destination before asking you to wait for their return. They come back within 15-20 minutes and ask passengers to follow them to a secure place where they can rest or enjoy a nap before resuming their flight.

While travelling from Chandigarh to Toronto, I experienced a night stay at Heathrow, which turned out to be an absorbing experience. Among the 60-odd passengers who needed to spend the night at the airport were mostly Asians and a few North Americans.

With all operations ending at 10 pm, all passengers, shortly after 11 pm, were escorted to the departure lounge. Attached to the lounge were toilet facilities. As passengers tried to make themselves comfortable on chairs-turned-beds, a couple of security men sat guard at the entrance of the lounge.

While some youngsters continued with their laptops and smartphones, others, especially the elderly, preferred to get some sleep. The lounge was turned into a neat, clean ‘night basera’ as some slept comfortably, disturbing others with their loud snores.

Around 4.30 am, security men returned to the hall to wake up everyone, cautioning them that the toilets would be locked at 5 am and those wanting to freshen up must hurry. 

Shortly before 5 am, the temporary night shelter was cleared for the early morning departures. Those who enjoyed the night at Heathrow were transported to Terminal 2, from where they headed for their destinations in North America.