Heathrow hell

Every time British Airways fouls up and I am trapped in the ghastly Terminal 5 I recall that in Dante’s Inferno, the fifth circle of hell is the kind of rage and anger I see around me.

On Friday afternoon tens of thousands of travellers jetting off for the Christmas holidays suffered severe disruptions caused by a computer failure at a key flight control centre.

London air traffic was paralysed by the blackout at the 
supposedly state-of-the-art National Air Traffic Services centre in Swanwick, which controls commercial air traffic over the UK.

The glitch lasted for just over half an hour but its knock-on
effect will last well into the weekend as passengers from feeder flights desperately try to find a way of re-booking onto a long-haul flight.

When a recent Edinburgh flight was yet again delayed and I had a four-hour queue to rebook a Singapore flight I made a vow that never again would I fly through this vile hub.

Schiphol, Frankfurt, Charles de Gaul, Dubai whatever – just not Heathrow.

(Dr) John Cameron

Howard Place

St Andrews