Heathrow boss says passport delays are ‘really disappointing’

John Holland-Kaye told the PA news agency it is ‘vital’ that people can go on holiday this summer.

Delays in processing passport applications are ‘really disappointing’, the boss of Heathrow Airport said (Steve Parsons/PA) (PA Archive)

Delays in processing passport applications are “really disappointing”, the boss of Heathrow Airport has said.

Chief executive John Holland-Kaye told the PA news agency it is “vital” that people can go on holiday this summer in case the UK reintroduces coronavirus travel restrictions.

It emerged on Monday that the Passport Office is dealing with a backlog in applications.

Mr Holland-Kaye said: “Normally the Passport Office is very slick in processing passports. It’s really disappointing to hear (about delays).

Making the most of the summer is vital

John Holland-Kaye, Heathrow Airport

“If it’s not resolved, it is going to mean that people can’t get away.

“After two years of lockdown, we need to make sure people can have a good holiday because many of them have vouchers that they’ve been saving up, they’ve got trips of a lifetime that they’ve put on hold, and we don’t know when things might get closed down again.

“Making the most of the summer is vital.”

The House of Commons heard about one woman who has waited more than five months to receive her daughter’s new passport, with services branded “either really very good or an absolute shambles”.

SNP home affairs spokesman Stuart McDonald asked: “All our constituents are having to cancel holidays, miss funerals, rearrange visits, with even a new 10-week target routinely being failed.

“What will be done to avoid this predictable mess getting worse? And can we be assured that the 10-week target will not be lengthened further as we approach the summer?”

Home Office minister Kevin Foster said: “We don’t have any intention to further extend that standard.

“We are at the moment processing most passports well within it, but we would advise people this is a very, virtually unprecedented surge in demand, and if people are planning to travel this summer we would advise them to get their application in as soon as possible.”

He said the Passport Office dealt with a million applications last month, compared with seven million per year before the pandemic.

Conservative MP Simon Hoare described the backlog as “unprecedented, true, but foreseeable, absolutely”.