No queues for air passengers as bosses call walkout 'pointless'

Airline bosses condemned today's strike as "pointless" as passengers escaped delays at London's airports.

Despite warnings of 12-hour queues and "gridlock" caused by striking Border Control officials, it emerged that immigration desks were actually better staffed than normal.

All of the capital's airports confirmed that at 2pm there were no queues, while passengers said getting through the airport was far easier than normal, and spoke of "half-empty" flights.

Daniel de Carvalho, European communications manager of Ryanair, demanded that union leaders admit the action had failed.

"We now call on Unison to admit their failure to disrupt passengers and end this pointless strike at a time when UK visitor numbers are down and UK border staff have less work," he said.

A UK Border Agency spokesman said: "Early signs show our contingency plans are minimising the impact of strike action, but waiting times at some ports may still be slightly longer."

However, some staff had just two hours' training on how to operate the Home Office database that flags up wanted terrorists and criminals, sparking fears the emergency provision could be exploited.

"It's the quickest I've ever got through immigration," said one Gatwick passenger, where flights were operating as normal. One Customs worker said there were more staff to process arriving passengers than normal.

The worker said: "On a normal day there may be around 10 booths open - today we have around 15. We're operating better than on a normal day.

"There are extra staff and people are getting processed quicker."

At Gatwick a disgruntled magician employed to entertain passengers who were delayed said he had struggled to create any interest in his tricks.

Danny Hall, 28, from Mile End, said: "I'd like a crowd. I thrive on the applause so today has been more difficult than I thought."

A Heathrow spokesman said: "As a result of the whole airport community working together we have more immigration officers on duty and fewer passengers arriving than would otherwise be the case." Dawn Wilson, a 28-year-old masters student who flew in from Los Angeles, said: "I was very relieved. The plane seemed half-empty. People definitely made arrangements to avoid it."

Four hundred "reservist" staff were on hand at Heathrow armed with BlackBerrys and iPads to keep passengers informed and provide food and drinks.

Staff were also instructed to allow families with young children, the elderly, unaccompanied children and disabled passengers to go to the front of the queues.

However, staff could not rule out delays later in the day as passengers could be held on planes if queues grew too large at immigration.

City Airport also said it was experiencing no delays, and Eurostar said services were operating normally, but advised passengers to arrive early in case of delays later in the day.