Heathrow: Britain's Busiest Airport - S4 E5 | Our Stories

This is Britain's

busiest

airport

, with almost half a million planes taking off and landing each year. It is currently Europe's number one

airport

, but foreign competition is intensifying. Are you sweating me too? Almost 80 million passengers are expected at Heathrow this year. I feel like we're going to have a heart attack, yes ambulance please, it's up to the army of almost 77,000 employees to keep their airport at the top of the table. It's a pleasure, there will be some familiar faces and some new ones. It's your back. Garden, you are in charge of this, you are the owner of the airfield in the terminal, can you see the knife and, for the first time, the passports from your pockets, please, we will go to the first line of the largest border of Great Britain, so if you just look at me in the face, we're going up, everyone's working harder than ever until king number one, they left the ticket, it's 4 49am. m. and the first flight of the day is about to land at Heathrow, the last 15 miles of 9000 miles, there are nine windows. 360 degrees six knots zero nine right declared for landing the arriving aircraft is about to make aviation history leaving Perth Australia it is the longest non-stop flight ever landed at Heathrow congratulations on your inaugural non-stop service and welcome to Heathrow is the end of a record 17 hours in the air for this Boeing Dreamliner 787.

After many years of planning, it is an absolute pleasure to be here at Heathrow. It's the beginning of ultra-long-haul transportation, or ulh, as it's known in the aviation business, and they're rolling out. the red carpet for this historic moment good morning good morning, how are you today thank you excellent until the end yes, in the future, it may be just another flight to add to the Heathrow schedule, but for Qantas and its chief engineer James it is a great Aviation in its beginnings was called the kangaroo route because there were multiple jumps from Australia to the United Kingdom.

Today we did it in one go. We flew 14,500 kilometers. We left Perth with around 98 tonnes of fuel. and we've landed today with enough capacity for another hour of waiting, it's kind of a milestone in aviation, so we're very, very happy to be involved. Ultra Long Haul will bring more people to Britain from further afield in shorter but longer journey times. On the journey you will need some form of passport to enter the UK Six years ago, Head Office created Border Force by merging responsibility for immigration customs and intelligence matters at all UK ports and airports. Anyone entering the UK is subject to scrutiny, including returning British citizens.

Also, how long have you been away sir, a week, a week and where are you traveling back to in the UK? Now it's world famous so there we are sir back in the Beyond days when we were just immigration officers that was our main and Heavenly role now of course we are also detection officers but actually we are trained as immigration officers customs, but we're also looking at counterterrorism and we're looking at all those different things, each section has its part to play an important role in customs. Additional vigilance is required when screening baggage entering the country for anything that may be related to criminal activity.

Despite Britain being one of the safest places to do business, it is estimated that up to £90 billion in criminal proceeds were laundered in the UK last year. See his passport please, upon arrival from Ghana, this passenger has stated that he will bring one hundred and fourteen thousand pounds in cash to the country where he normally lives. I live in Ghana is that ok and how long will it be in the UK for 30 days? 30 days, okay, if you bring more than 10,000 dollars from outside the EU, you have to prove where the money comes from and what it is used for at the border.

The Remier Force has to establish that it is not for illegal use. Where does the money you carry come from? Yes it's correct. that's really I'm done with the business I'm doing, but do you have any evidence to prove it comes from your business? The newly arrived passenger claims that the £114,000 is to buy second-hand car parts in England and, although I don't have some documents Remy, his colleague Allen, discovered an irregularity in 2010-2018 without any relevance, so of course , these documents that my colleagues said, um, from 2010. Yes, but I have a color document, but I forgot to bring it and it slipped away.

I always tell you when I downgrade this. I don't want to play here, yes, so you have previously declared money, yes, yes, in your system, the amounts you have declared are similar to this amount. I'm sorry please, so this is 114. it's 14,800. hey one hundred and fourteen thousand Richmond if you have that money you had written 114,308,000. you have 114,300 or maybe it's the mistake I don't have a hundred thousand trees I don't have maybe every good mistake one The mistake could be cleared up. You're not out of the woods yet, regardless of whether you have €10,000 or its equivalent.

Yes, you have to declare it, which you have done, but you still have to provide proof of where the money came from and when it was made. I can't provide any evidence where the money is coming from, the documentation you have provided to us is eight years old, they must go through my business, where is the evidence to prove it came from your business without proof? Border Force may confiscate this businessman's money, which could force him into early retirement at the airfield. Air operations chief trainer Simon is also heading into a retirement of sorts. I've gotten to a point where after 27 years, um, I'm still only 32.

I really need to try to move on and do something a little different, use my knowledge, yeah, I started working here when I was 18, so it's a case of um, this has been my life. Apprentice Ian came out for his last session with his mentor Simon, before I go you really need to try to squeeze what you can out of me, uh, out of me, maybe you need to be like a dementor and just suck, yeah, suck it all in like Harry Potter . I won't give you my phone number. number, although no offense, I want to draw a line and today's lesson is about air traffic control runway change preparation.

This daily ritual redirects arriving and departing planes from one runway to the other, orchestrated by controllers like Jewels, at three o'clock every afternoon. we change from being two seven to the right to 2 7 to the left of Archer or vice versa, so we will do what we call an alternation. Heathrow is located in the sought-after residential area of ​​west London, as the number of arrivals and departures has also increased. the noise, if you live below the flight path, we alternate at three o'clock to alleviate the noise so that you are not under the final approach 24 hours a day, you are only below half the day, so we try to spread the noise. around as much as possible before the change, the tracks should be inspected.

Checker misses alfa bravo 134 a routine surface inspection of runway two seven right. Checker Roger misses two seven to the right. I'll call you yeah that was good and it's actually starting to sound a little normal now it's not so robotic hello, I'm just going over my uh inspection. Gap, is it after Singapore? Thank you so much. The city surprises me how those things fly there. Come on, nice try and, really, let's be bold. strong with the air Simon and Ian have only a few minutes to carry out their inspection so remind me what we are looking for if there are massive cracks, something has appeared looking for the birds, any birds or any wildlife activity up in the tower, They are notifying the incoming planes, which runway they land on and the departing planes, how long they have to wait until they can take off.

Speaker 906 The November plan is four minutes. We have both runways checked because any foreign object on the runway can be dangerous for planes. Sometimes it can be a piece of metal that could burst a tire or something, it looks like a plastic bag to me. I'm not sure, but let me take that from here, okay, but obviously, if a plane is taking off and there's something that can be ingested. It could damage the engine and cause a problem for the plane, so that piece of plastic, if it flew to the surface, a pilot might assume it was something else, like a piece of metal or something, even though we know it's not perfect. on both tracks. now there are foreign object free zones ready for the three o'clock switch telechecker unoccupied to harami 27 right thank you very much it's paper 994 Golf Club take off t7 surface wind right 1808 well done very well maybe I can help you pass this training course After all, yes, when the first plane leaves on a nice, clean runway, in the arrivals terminal, the Ramire Border Force is talking to the National Crime Agency.

I didn't give myself a name. He is investigating a Ghanaian businessman because he appeared with 14 thousand dollars in cash in a brown. about without any proof where it comes from if the worst happens and the investigation team wants to hold that money for investigation, the money has to be presented before the magistrate within 48 hours, he will listen to the circumstances and make a decision. He will decide to return the money to you immediately or give the investigation team one month six weeks eight weeks to further investigate the origins of the money. Well, the businessman claims that the last time he came to the UK he brought 12,000 pounds. cash to buy car parts and you declared it well, sure, wait a second when you brought that money last time you entered the UK, did you declare that money?

Yes, when he was going to come, I didn't. I'm no good for those ten thousand. there is no money held more than 10 times yes, yes, 12,000 is more than ten thousand, so tell me again how much money you brought to the UK last time, okay, and you didn't declare it, okay, didn't you tell me before that You have declared money previously many times and we should check our record to verify that you had declared the money. It seems there is a change in this businessman's story and the Remia Border Force is not convinced. Yes, he said that now he brought approximately 9,000 pounds and he didn't.

Not declaring that money before saying twelve thousand there are and discrepancies in the story that says his coach Mark is impressed with his confidence in questioning I've been on the job for 34 years and I see Romeo really do this, you know ? It's only been the job eight months fantastic the way she questions is brilliant really really impressive I'm really nervous maybe you can't see it but I am it's her money and it's not natural to stop someone and you know ask her about it and having authority is hard , but if it is linked to crime then it has a dire effect on our society, so it is really important what we do.

There is also the element that you don't want to stop or confiscate someone's genuine money, you don't. I want to do that or border force Ramire will now check the companies the man does business with to see if he is telling the truth if you guess he is in right now, which is food transportation. There are 4,000 flights in and out of the UK every day. With a third of arrivals departing from Heathrow, this makes the airport a prime location for spotting aircraft and today there are flight tracking apps that allow anyone to identify any commercial aircraft in the sky from their smartphone.

I'm looking at the flight radar on my phone. just to check where my boyfriend is, where his plane is, just make it one now, oh my god, I bet he's so excited that he'll be on that plane so far back. I imagine him arriving from Tokyo, Japan. Kazumasa is about to land. I entered Terminal 5 to meet his 22-year-old girlfriend Valerie, whom he met online. We met on a language learning app and have been dating for six months. We feel like we've been dating for years. We know each other very well and we talk. We probably talk more than people who live together, that's what we say anyway.

I think it was our common love of airplanes that brought us together and tomorrow for Valentine's Day we plan to go back and play airplane spotting near the airport because you can see them coming in very low, it's very exciting to add to the excitement for Valerie. Tomorrow's Valentine's Day won't be her only first in Kazamassa, so is this the first time you're going to admit? Oh yes, this is the first time. The time to meet me in person is overwhelming, in fact, to think that he'll still be here, but I guess when I see him my body will just take over and oh my God, Kazamasa will arrive on a Boeing 777, which is currently the widebody plane best seller. in Boeing history, although Valerie may not currently be on this plane's mind. uh, yeah, oh, I'm sorry, come on, okay, I'm sorry, ah, the best feeling, oh, I have no idea, I can't, I can't be happier, I'm so sorry. for my red cheeks I love being at the airfield Another love story is coming to its fairy tale endingfairies Coach G Simon is on his last shift at Heathrow since he was 10 I would go out cycling with my bike and watch the planes take pictures of the planes it's actually quite nice that he's here after 27 years.

I'm leaving but I'm leaving. I'm moving on to someone with the same passion and desire for these pieces of tin decimal eight two five before. Simon can say his last goodbye. The situation has worsened and one of his beloved pieces of tin needs his help. There is an A380 arriving at stand 342 and I think there is a problem with the computer that parks the plane, so this is one reason. to keep bringing out those table tennis bats Simon's training technique is about to be put to the final test Ian will park the largest commercial airliner on the planet with more than 500 people on board and here we are three four two his three Internal control towers not far away will be watching you, so perform well: the A380 weighs a whopping 650 tonnes and has a wingspan almost the size of a football field, meaning the airports at which it lands must be equipped to deal with their incredible size in the right place.

Yes, because because of the doors, you have to make sure they are in the right place so they can climb in, otherwise you would have to have the tub push it back. If you see its size, there is a huge plane. you know, put it at eight inches with no pressure, okay Echo Juliet, that's ours, it's a big plane, make yourself very bold and visible, okay, we're doing great, great life, Ian will have reached his eight inch mark, 350 people There with you. your little hands, but they guided it safely to reach Heathrow Airport right under the noses of the air traffic controllers.

I'm sure they were looking down and giving you a round of applause at the same time. That is not easy. I think I'm ready to say you're ready to start properly sorting these out to me from the person who trained me. I am pleased to pass them on to him in recognition of what he has just done. It's a pleasure, thank you and I will always treasure them and take care of them the best they can, take care of them. Oh, I'll take care of them. Hungry planes. I think it's actually hard to understand. You know, if only they could talk and tell us the

stories

they could tell.

It would be fascinating. You know, a lot of people believe that money talks. The border force would like it to be that way. Then they could decide whether this man's £14,000 came from his business or not. What is happening with the money business? I'm not going to dodge the rise of electronic payments. Only 40% of transactions in the UK are carried out with cash in Ghana 75 per cent of businesses still rely on notes and coins. How would it feel? I feel good because I know they are doing their job. crime agency and informs his supervising officer that he has spoken to the vendors and they are waiting for them and they have verified that he meets with them three four times a year and pays them in cash so they are happy to leave the money .

Be fair, we will give you the good news and if you want to come we will be happy to let you handle it, but just so you know, next time you come to the UK, if you are carrying money equivalent to €10,000 or more they carry evidence of where money comes from. You can save your money while I make my notebook on this one. I was glad to let him go, but I'm still not completely satisfied with what he told us. Well, I hope. Next time when it arrives, I have been following the document. Okay, there is a lesson for me and I will learn more from it, naturally, but every time I try the case it gives me more confidence, so next time I know. how to deal better abroad