Wait, what? The boss of Heathrow Airport - known as London Airport, a major international airport - believes the horrendous delays at Heathrow are partly caused by passengers carrying too many make-up products.
In recent months, Heathrow travelers have faced long queues, last-minute cancellations and lost luggage. To curb the chaos, the airport recently introduced a daily limit of 100,000 visitors and asked airlines to stop selling new tickets for August flights.
"They have more bags and more liquids in their bags, so it takes a bit longer," Heathrow chief executive John Holland-Kane told radio station Leading Britain's Conversation.
He added: "You should know that the regulations are that people can only travel with one transparent bag, one liter [illustrative photo below], and people tend not to think of make-up products as prohibited when travelling, so that more education is needed for people."
Since it is generally women who do the make-up, it is assumed that his comments are aimed at female travelers.
What's happening at Heathrow? Passport control has collapsed again at T3 and this is the queue for smart gates! @HeathrowAirport @BBCWorld @BBCNews @CNN @cnnbrk @itvnews @BorisJohnson @pritipatel @Keir_Starmer pic.twitter.com/Cl0Fg2ptnV
— Inglesito (@AaowenMexico) May 21, 2022
The comments are strange considering the real and major reason for the chaos at Heathrow and other airports. As we all know, at the height of the Covid pandemic, airports and airlines laid off thousands of employees. Now that travel has resumed strongly, airports and airlines are facing staff shortages.
Shortages of staff and problems with recruitment (lengthy security check procedures and unattractive working conditions) have caused chaos on flights and long queues. So, no women and makeup products!
