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Connecting international to domestic (heathrow to aberdeen)

Hi All,
I will be studying abroad at the University of Aberdeen for the Fall semester and have a few questions on flights. This is my first time flying internationally, so I am trying to gather as much information as I can.

Background:
My entire flight will be through BA.
I will be flying from DFW to London-Heathrow, landing in Terminal 5. From there I have a connecting flight that will take me from Heathrow to Aberdeen, from the same terminal. My concern is that I only have 1 hour to catch my connecting flight to Aberdeen.

Questions:
Is 1 hour enough time if my connecting flight arrives and departs from the same terminal and in the same airline?
Would I need to pick up my luggage and recheck them at any point?
Would I have to go through security and/or customs during this connection?

Your input would be much appreciated. Thank you!

Posted by
2636 posts

your luggage will be checked through. You will have to go through immigration in Heathrow and then customs in Aberdeen ,though that won't be a problem. Time line should be ok but does seem a bit tight . I won't say you will definitely make it but I think it is possible, just don't dawdle and just hope your flight is on time.

Posted by
5311 posts

60 minutes is the minimum connection time set by IATA. So on a single ticket should you miss the connection you will be put onto the next available service. As to whether this is a sensible connection it is perfectly doable, but a delay anywhere along the line will make it difficult. You need to present yourself at the entrance to security 35 minutes before take off, which means completing immigration within 25 minutes of normal arrival time. This looks tight to guarantee to me with a non EEA/Swiss passport..

Posted by
2636 posts

a little tip for Heathrow T5 security, often the lines are at the first few stations, there are often stations opened much further down the security hall, head for one of them. been a couple of years since I have been through T5 though and thing might have changed.

Posted by
459 posts

I flew BA from Chicago to Heathrow to Edinburgh in October. We had a tight connection 1:40 minutes in Heathrow and a delay made it close to an hour. BA was good about realizing folks with tight connecting flights and had a person it our gate that helped us navigate through Heathrow and took us to the front of the line so we bypassed a long line at immigration and made our connections, when you deplane watch for someone from BA with an orange placard listing your flight to Scotland, tht was the persons that helped us. Be very careful not to have something in your carryone (like too much liquid ect) that will put you into the delayed line that wil cause you to have to take your carry on to be further searched. You could be delayed there as they will want you to explain your items and that will be a delay you will not want. As stated before, your checked bags will go on and you will not deal with customs until you get to Scotland. I am assuming there are several flights from Heathrow to Aberdeen everyday so I would pick the later flights out of the BA site and print out a page so if you miss your connection you will have an idea of the flight numbers and times for later flights. We were able to make our flight connections in just under an hour in Heathrow both coming and going due mainly to help frm BA. It is also an avantage to have booked your complete trip ticket through BA in case a connection is cancelled.