American Airways Debuts New Time-saving Function for Connecting Passengers at London Heathrow Airport—What to Know

• American Airways is participating in a pilot program to permit passengers connecting at Heathrow to bypass a second safety screening.
• It’s at the moment just for these flying from Dallas, and it’s unclear if it is going to increase.
• Heathrow is among the busiest airports on the world, and its safety can usually take a very long time which suggests this program might be a serious time-saver.

There’s a brand new solution to save time at one of many busiest airports on this planet. 

Passengers flying on American Airways from Dallas / Fort Price Airport (DFW) and connecting at London’s Heathrow Airport (LHR) will quickly be capable to go immediately from their inbound aircraft to their gate, without having a secondary safety cease. Worldwide passengers continuously should clear native safety earlier than persevering with on their journey with a connecting flight, and this pilot program goals to simplify the journey expertise. 

American describes its participation in this system as a “founding associate” with the US and United Kingdom governments, and the hassle was described as “first-of-its-kind.” There was no steering for the way lengthy this system would run for, and whether or not it might increase to extra airways. 

“There isn’t any must undergo safety once more,” explains a promotional video of the brand new characteristic.

Better of all, the characteristic additionally extends to baggage, so passengers with worldwide connections in London don’t must get their baggage and have it re-screened for his or her subsequent flight—they head straight to the subsequent gate.  

Whereas the event is thrilling for frequent flyers, this system doesn’t prolong to each flight. United Kingdom or Eire flight connections are examples of two international locations the place it doesn’t apply. The airline encourages passengers to confirm whether or not they should undergo safety once more, or can make the most of OneStop. 

“This partnership simplifies worldwide air journey for our clients, and we look ahead to alternatives to increase it to extra airports, together with from LHR to DFW, sooner or later,” American Airways Chief Authorities Officer Nate Gatten mentioned within the launch. 

American is a member of the Oneworld Alliance, which additionally consists of British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Japan Airways, Iberia, Qantas, and others. This implies a passenger connecting from the DFW to LHR flight would not should clear safety if they’re booked on a Oneworld airline departing from Terminal 3 or 5. The brand new characteristic is useful for enterprise vacationers, or leisure vacationers to London for the upcoming summer season trip journey season. 

The method of one-stop safety is just like worldwide pre-clearance services . For instance, some airports enable passengers to clear U.S. Customs and Safety at worldwide airports, and consequently they may return to the US as home passengers. This gives fast entry for connections and avoids going to customs when touchdown. Dublin Airport in Eire has a U.S. Preclearance facility and claims it will possibly assist save time.