I am a US citizen flying Delta from the US to Heathrow terminal 3 then self connecting to an Italy bound British Airways flight in terminal 5. I have 2 hours and 45 minutes between flights and will not be checking bags.
Do I need to go through immigration? Or can I just follow the flight connection signs, take the transfer bus, go through security and then get to my gate?
Thank you!
Immigration depends on where your destination is. If in the UK, then yes, you need to go through immigration, if going elsewhere, then no. (Edit: If going to the Republic of Ireland, then you may also need to go through security due to the Common Travel Area agreement.)
In both cases, yes, you can stay airside, but at Heathrow, that still means going through some security.
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Your flights are on separate tickets, correct? What is your final destination?
This is not a “connecting flight” within the meaning of that term, as it is not on one ticket. But it should be OK as long as they have the boarding pass for the second flight in hand when they land at T3.
The questions of where you are headed to is needed to answer your question.
If in the UK, you will go through immigration but in a separate area for transfer passengers and not the main passport control area.
For a flight outside the UK, technically, on two separate tickets, you are supposed to go through immigration but if you already have the boarding pass for your second flight, you might as well try to stay airside and follow the signs. As long as you have no checked bags you should be fine.
You should have plenty of time.
And the term "Self-connecting" is correct.
Thank you all for your help. The final destination is Italy.
