Yoga mats and turkey sandwiches – welcome to Heathrow Terminal 5

Alison McKay slept inside a red crate on Friday night. Two nights later she was upgraded to a yoga mat and a thin layer of foil that looked like an astronaut’s gear, the so-called “emergency blanket.” In all its eventfulness, this happened in Heathrow Terminal 5.

Her flight to Seattle was cancelled, on Friday and every day ever since. Alison, 23, who teaches English in Estepona, Spain, never thought her transit through London would take this long. “I’m amazed this happened in Heathrow,” she said. “I wouldn’t be that surprised if it was in South America, not in a developed country like the UK.”

By 10.00 am on Tuesday, of 70 flights on Terminal 5’s boards, all were cancelled except for 27, which were mainly long-haul services.

Alison was “scared and alone” on the first night, but after five days of waiting her anger subsided and she felt “resigned, tired and hungry.” A vegetarian, she had to eat a turkey sandwich at 4.00 am, because that was the only food on the offer.

Since the beginning of the weather-related chaos, British Airways has been handing out flyers explaining how stranded travellers can get a refund of the money they have had to spend on accommodation and transport.

There is a limit of £200 (235 euros) a day for hotel stays when two people share a room, £50 (59 euros) for return transport to the airport, and a daily allowance of £25 (29 euros) for food and drinks.

Passengers said they chose to sleep in the terminal because hotel rates were around £400 (471 euros), double the amount BA promised to reimburse. Some complained that they did not have enough money to pay expenses now and then wait for the airline’s refund.

The situation in Heathrow’s Terminal 3 was even more chaotic. Only people with valid bookings were allowed in the building. That is after queuing outside in freezing temperatures. Two large tents were put up, one heated and with facilities to provide hot drinks to the waiting passengers. BAA staff denied entry to the terminal building for journalists on “safety” grounds.

Back in a clean and airy Italian cafe in Terminal 5, Scott and his wife were hoping to get on a San Francisco-bound plane after their flight was cancelled on Sunday. . Over coffee and orange juice Scott said: “It’s ridiculous for an airport to shut down for a week because of four inches of snow.” He wouldn’t give his his last name due to fears that BA would never upgrade him again. “It’s a disaster, it’s pathetic,” he added.

Jennifer Fruehauf, who had just joined the queue, was booked on the only Toronto flight of the day that was not cancelled. “There’s only one type of snow,” she said. “You either know how to deal with it or not.” She was angry that not enough information was being provided and pointed out that in much more adverse weather conditions in Canada “everything continues to run.”

It was a breath of fresh air to see a family of four, all with wide smiles, at the end of their one-hour wait. They said the drive from their home outside Cardiff had been slow, but they were looking forward to their 10-day skiing holiday in Denver in the United States.

Ali Sheikholeslami

euronews correspondent in London

Photography courtesy Alison McKay

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