Stopping at Heathrow with British Airways? Watch out for new connecting times

British Airways announced that Will extend from the current 60 to 75 minutes the minimum transit time of its passengers at London Heathrow Airport. The measure will be adopted as of January 9, 2024, but the company is already now writing to thousands of passengers warning them that, as far as possible, it will proceed to change bookings involving a stopover at Heathrow of less than 75 minutes free of charge.

Affected travelers are all those who are planning a stopover at the London airport after a long-haul flight and those who, arriving on a domestic flight from other cities in the United Kingdom, continue their journey on any international flight.

Why this change

The measure will reduce the number of passengers who miss their connecting flight because their flight arriving in London is delayed or due to an extended wait at security or passport control. Issues that the British flag carrier evidently believes cannot be solved in the short to medium term.

The 75-minute limit applies to transits that do not require a terminal change. For cases involving a terminal change, it remains unchanged at 90 minutes.

What is the minimum transit time

Minimum transit time (Minimum Connecting Time or MCT in English) is defined as the time between the arrival time of the first flight and the departure time of the next flight. That must be enough for the passenger to get off the first plane, take care of airport formalities, and board the second plane before boarding is closed. And to his checked baggage to be transferred from one plane to another.

Heathrow increasingly problematic

Heathrow has several issues that have prompted BA to extend that time: an airport infrastructure that can require aircraft to go through prolonged taxiing phases; security screening machines that are not state-of-the-art, forcing passengers through long and tedious procedures. And the Brexit, which has significantly increased the number of those who have to go through immigration incoming and outgoing.

Transit times in Europe

With the transition to a 75-minute MCT, Heathrow becomes, among major European hubs, the one with the longest minimum connecting times: Paris Charles De Gaulle takes only 60 minutes, Amsterdam Schiphol 50 minutes, Zurich 40 minutes, and Munich even 30 minutes.