The airport, and everything feeding into it

For arrivals we meet inside the terminal at the barrier in the arrivals hall, with a name board, and we time it from the actual landing rather than the schedule. Terminal 5 usually clears fastest for hand-luggage-only passengers; Terminal 3 immigration queues are the least predictable, so we allow more free waiting there in practice.

For departures, the constraint is the drop-off charge and the approach roads. We route via the Northern Perimeter Road when the Spur is congested, and for very early flights we collect earlier than most operators would suggest — a chauffeur waiting fifteen minutes costs you nothing; missing check-in costs a fare and a flight.

Around the airport we cover the Bath Road hotels, Stockley Park, Slough, Uxbridge and the M4 business parks. A common pattern for visiting teams is a terminal collection, a hotel drop, and a car held for meetings the following morning — all on one booking reference.