I'm exploring flight options using miles and wondering if a flight from Milan to Heathrow arrives in the same terminal as outbound flight from Heathrow to Johannesburg, South Africa- both on British Airways. Is 1 1/2 hours enough time for connection? Next option is 4 1/2 hour layover (ugghhh)
Will we have to go through security in Heathrow?
Thanks for any information.
Is it all on one ticket (in which case, if you miss your connection, they'll still do what they can to get you there eventually) - or is it on two separate tickets (in which case, if you miss your connection, you're utterly screwed)? Makes a difference.
For me, even if on one ticket, at LHR, I'd want more than 90 minutes. That's too tight to make it if anything goes wrong (like, if your inbound flight is a bit late - which happens All The Time).
It will be all one ticket, but the next flight from Heathrow would be 24 hours later. But the flight within South Africa would be on a separate ticket. So better off spending a few extra hours in Heathrow. Thanks.
I’m not sure about outgoing flights to Johannesburg, but two weeks ago we flew from Milan to SFO on BA with a stopover in Heathrow. We arrived and flew out of Terminal 5, with two hours between flights. You will stay airside and go through security. We were lucky our carry ons were not subject to a secondary search. If it had been, they were quoting half hour waits for the bags to clear this secondary search. We had just enough time, not running to catch the next flight but not taking our time either. Once we got through security we only had 15 minutes to wait before our gate was announced and we made our way there directly. Depending on what sub terminal you arrive in (Terminal 5 has Areas 5A-5E) and where your outward gate is, you may have to take a train shuttle there.
If your flight to Johannesburg is at another terminal, then that would take even longer. While the four hour layover sounds long, it might be just half of that once you clear security and transfer to the right gate. Here is a helpful link from Heathrow Airport that will tell you if you have enough time between connections.
BA also flies out of Terminal 3 so check carefully.
The minimum time for genuine connecting flights within T5 is 65 minutes. This is perfectly doable but with little margin for the first being late.
The UK does not take on trust the quality of the airport security of any other country including the USA. You have to present yourself at LHR security within 35 minutes of gate closure of your onward flight. Clear security in the satellites, if both flights are from one of these rather than the main terminal. With an unprotected flight in South Africa though you might want extra cushion somewhere for that.
From what I can see on BA’s site if you look at flight details you should see what terminal flights come into and depart from.
JNB flights go out of T5 but T5 has 3 terminals connected by tunnels airside by train or walking... typically you won’t know which of those terminals your flight will go out of until 30 minutes to an hour prior and you must be through security approximately 45 minutes before. Despite being airside you will need to go through security again.
You can check flight connections and security on BA’s site.
I’m one of those folks who would prefer a longer cushion than 1 1/2 hours in case things go awry...especially for a flight to JNB
One of the things I like about T5 is that security is usually quite quick. This might not be the case if your bag is pulled off for inspection but travelling through there multiple times a year I've never experienced any long delays.
Even if the connection is within T5 it can take some time to move between the A, B, and C sections. And when your plane from Milan lands, the gate for the JNB flight may not be posted yet, so you would have to head to 5 A, gomthrough security, and then wait there for the gate to be announced.
We once almost missed out US-bound flight because the train taking us from 5B to 5C was delayed. We were waiting on the platform for 10 minutes, and heard the "gate closing" announcement for our flight. (They announced it way early, but we did not know that). Quite a panic, and when we finally got off the train we sprinted through the terminal to our gate, only to find they were still boarding.
Our last trip through Heathrow, in August, we were delayed a good 20 minutes at security because I foolishly did not remove my iPad from my backpack ( I did not see the advisory sign). I was referred to the secondary inspection area where there was only one agent working and quite a queue. My fault entirely, but those of us waiting felt we were being punished for our transgressions. We had a full 2 hour connect time and that was barely enough.
If the transit is disrupted it is quicker to walk than wait. Indeed there isn't much in it even if they are working normally. The walkway is one level below the transit level. Five minutes from T5B and eight from T5C to T5A if you are able to walk at a reasonable pace (there are moving walkways much of the way to help).
Thanks, Marco. We did see a door to the walkway, but it was signed to 5A only, and we needed to get to 5C. I had not heard of this pedestrian passageway before, no thought it might just be for employees. I have since read about it on Flyertalk and intend to explore a bit the next time we have extra time at Heathrow.
Thanks for the info, but ended up not bookig flights through Heathrow since BA flights cost a fortune flying with miles! So instead we used United miles and paid $200/instead of +$1000 by avoiding Heathrow.
