The Heathrow Horror story….

Is there a more depressing major (and majorly profitable) airport in the world to arrive at than Heathrow? The indifference, disorganisation and outright contempt for passengers is simply staggering: arriving back home there this morning after a trip to the US, none of the escalators or travelators between the gate and customs hall are working; there are just two immigration officials for the EU passport holders line so even though they only give a cursory glance to each one it still takes ten minutes to get past them; I have to check three cubicles in the loos before finding the fourth one that is actually clean, and even then the toilet seat is entirely cracked; and there are no trolleys in the luggage claim area. Mind you, at least I did get my luggage back, even though I was travelling BA who are notorious at the moment for separating passengers from their luggage.

This is, of course, a familiar litany of complaints, while the Spanish company that owns the BAA simply sit back and collect massive operating profits. Why do I bring it up in a theatre blog, though?

Partly because the Heathrow (lack of) welcome is just another factor that may be discouraging tourists who contribute so much to the attendance figures in the West End; but also because BAA is not unlike that of some of London’s major theatre owners, providing the essential receiving house for airlines or shows to park at, but often failing to do more than only running repairs to the infrastructure of the places they’re charging so much to their tenants to be resident at.

But theatregoers and passengers alike may start voting with their feet unless things improve radically. As it is, one of the many reasons that people will prefer to go to the places like the National is the comfort factor, apart from the definable artistic policy that makes going there a trusted experience. Just as transit passengers may find it more comfortable to book trips through cities like Paris or Frankfurt or Amsterdam with well-run airport hubs and will abandon Heathrow entirely, so theatregoers have already started avoiding the West End. I know people who actually consider it both a cheaper and more comfortable experience to see things on Broadway now than in the West End.

At least Broadway theatres are (for the most part) kept up to an attractive standard. And with the current exchange rates so in our favour, the prices are more or less compatible, too.