London Heathrow Connection time?

Under normal operating conditions the 2 hour 15 min should be fine.

Under normal conditions, 2:15 should be plenty of time since you don't have to change terminals. You will go thorugh passport control and security.

Is this on one ticket or two?

What day of the week is this? I looked at BA's schedule and there are up to 10 flights a day between LHR and GLA and none with a seven hour gap.

It will be on one ticket. There are quite a few flights to Glasgow, but most of them require transferring to Gatwick. That’s doesn’t sound fun! So it’s either the 9:05 flight or the next one out of Heathrow is 14:00. It sounds like 2 hr 15 min will be enough time to make the earlier flight. Which is great! I’d love to have the extra time in Glasgow before heading to Shetland.

You're obviously doing the transfer for GLA on a Saturday when there seem to be far fewer flights than on a weekday.

Coming back it is a domestic flight to LHR but you then do Passport Control etc at LHR during your connection time-although your baggage will be checked through to SEA.

That's a better and much nicer arrival time at SEA (1730) than I've seen before with BA- anytime I've looked it's been a mid evening arrival time!

There's no passport control transiting through Heathrow Stuart. Any check on passports will be done at check-in at Glasgow. There will I assume be another security check though.

On the return flight, there is no passport control or security at Heathrow. (The UK only wants you to do security on a connection if the originating flight was outside the UK.)

The airline will check to make sure you have a valid passport either at the check in desk or at the gate. (This is not Passport Control.)

It hasn't been mentioned but fill in your flight information on this website and it will give you step by step instructions.

Heathrow Flight Connections

By following the "Flight Connections" signs, you will go to a separate Passport Control area than the other passengers. It's usually very fast and has egates for you to use. From there you will be "ushered" to a security area specifically for flight connections.

And....hopefully....by May of next year Heathrow will finally get the new security machines where you won't have to take anything out of your bag. It was supposed to be up and running this month but, of course, it's delayed.

Fantastic!!!! That’s good to hear that there is a separate passport control for connecting flights. Sounds like I should go ahead and book the flight.

My BA flights always transfer in Terminal 5. If your's do as well, 2:15 is plenty of time. It usually takes me 45 minutes at the most to get back into the departure area of Terminal 5. I allow 2 to 3 hours for my transfer, but have always had more than enough time for breakfast at the Pilot's Bar before boarding.

The 2:15 time should be enough on one ticket. If you should miss the connection you might ask BA to fly you to Edinburgh sooner rather than to Glasgow 7 hours later, which might save you time overall. But if you're stuck with 7 hours it still wouldn't make sense to go into London and take a train, taking into account the time and effort to get to the London station (King's Cross?) and then the train ride itself -- which of course would cost you as a walk-up fare.

If for some reason you miss your connection and have to wait seven hours for the next flight, you could consider buying lounge access if your ticket doesn't entitle you to one nor have a credit card that gives you access.

The two departure lounges at Terminal 5 that you can purchase entrance to are the Club Aspire and the Plaza Premium.

Lounges give you more comfortable seating, food, drink and internet access.

I just transited through Heathrow last Saturday on arrival from Bologna. The system has changed dramatically since my last transit in November 2023. I also think they’ve added additional screening lanes.
You no longer have to remove your liquids, 3-1-1, from your bag, nor do you have to remove your laptop, tablet, etc. Previously, you had to also use one of their bags for your liquids. Not anymore. Still need to remove a belt and everything from your pockets, but what a difference. Also, it is now a ‘ screen’ style walk through which is much faster.
They are also using new technology for bag screening. It seems more efficient in that not as many bags are being pushed into the area for additional screening. Unfortunately, my items were, but it went much faster for the individual search.
The other thing-the employees in the security area were much more pleasant to the point of being very sociable. I think they also appreciate the new equipment very much.
So-I wouldn’t hesitate on 2:15 for a transit time. The only draw back is a late arrival, but the departures from Seattle seem to operate on time.

You should be fine. The minimum connect time for T5 to T5 transfers is 60 minutes. You will go through security during the transfer, but it is a separate line from the main security and quick.

T5 has 3 separate buildings, A, B, and C. The later Seattle flight seems to always land at 5C, but I don’t know if that is true of the earlier flight (BA52). Either way, you would follow the purple Flight Connections signs to the the escalators or elevators down to the train that will take you to 5A. That is where you will go through security and where your flight to Glasgow will likely depart. Look for the gate number on a light board after you pass through security.

We have connected through Heathrow on many BA flights from Seattle to Europe with 2-2.5 hours between, and never missed one. The closest call was when our already-late flight was delayed another 45 minutes more because we had to wait for a gate to be assigned. By the time we connected to a gate were down to 30 minutes before our flight to Barcelona. We needed to transfer to T3, but there were 15 others on our plane in the same situation. The cabin crew announced that everyone on the plane who was NOT going to the BCN flight should stay seated and let those passengers off first. We were met by a BA agent at the end of the jetway and escorted to a special bus they brought up right to the gate just for our group, waiting to whisk us over to T3. There, we were given priority through security and escorted to the gate where our flight was waiting.

We were pretty impressed.