Can You Leave the Internat. Airport Terminal After Checkin?

Say you are at Gatwick or Stansted and you are waiting for your Ryan Air flight to Italy or France. Say you arrive like 2,5 or 3 hours early and you go through ticketing and security but you go inside and you want to go smoke or go back out of the airport for whatever reason. Will they let you? Will they let you go back through immigration without too much hassle, if you already have your ticket but you just have some time?

Once you've gone through passport control (security) you'll find it a hassle to come back through...especially if it's just to 'have a smoke and waste some time.' Most passengers would wait until close to the boarding time before they go through the security checks and into the departure lounge.

GlassPrisoner79 wrote:Say you are at Gatwick or Stansted and you are waiting for your Ryan Air flight to Italy or France. Say you arrive like 2,5 or 3 hours early and you go through ticketing and security but you go inside and you want to go smoke or go back out of the airport for whatever reason. Will they let you? Will they let you go back through immigration without too much hassle, if you already have your ticket but you just have some time?

If u asked the other way; you are entering the country, and after immigration control u want to go back to the plane to pick something eg u left your mobile on your plane seat. You will not be allowed. You would have to completely get out, pick your luggage and re enter the departures dept as if you are travelling.

I understand that UK immigration would probably give me hell, but it is still possible to go through? Esp. if you have 2+ hours and such? Say the friend wants to stay put in the terminal area but you still have a LITTLE time to leave and come back and such (for a smoke, maybe better restaurants on the other side of immigration, etc)

GlassPrisoner79 wrote:I understand that UK immigration would probably give me hell, but it is still possible to go through? Esp. if you have 2+ hours and such? Say the friend wants to stay put in the terminal area but you still have a LITTLE time to leave and come back and such (for a smoke, maybe better restaurants on the other side of immigration, etc)

It's nothhing to do with "Immigration". If you have checked in luggage you can't go back out for security reasons. Not negotiable.

What does checked luggage have to do with the security of leaving the airport? If I enter through the UK security side and I want to have a smoke (and I have 2,5 hours left before my flight even boards) I cannot leave because of checked in baggage? Since you have to pass through security going in and out of the terminal, I don't see where there would be any potential threat. So, if I only did carry-on, then I am allowed to enter again?

I ask if immigration would be a pain, because in the UK, there is only immigration entering the country and not leaving. So I get my ticket, pass through security to the gate, but if I want to leave, I go through immigration again since I am technically entering the country again. I am asking if THAT is what is possible, given the circumstances.

GlassPrisoner79 wrote:What does checked luggage have to do with the security of leaving the airport? If I enter through the UK security side and I want to have a smoke (and I have 2,5 hours left before my flight even boards) I cannot leave because of checked in baggage? Since you have to pass through security going in and out of the terminal, I don't see where there would be any potential threat. So, if I only did carry-on, then I am allowed to enter again?

I ask if immigration would be a pain, because in the UK, there is only immigration entering the country and not leaving. So I get my ticket, pass through security to the gate, but if I want to leave, I go through immigration again since I am technically entering the country again. I am asking if THAT is what is possible, given the circumstances.

You would not be entering the country again as you haven't left. You would be a disembarking passnger. If you don't believe me then feel free to try it. I am only telling you how it is.

OK, so there would not be a separate immigration gate, or there is just no gate to leave at all then? I have left and passed through immigration (exit and enter) on transit flights, but perhaps those are usually in different terminals than the usual international terminals?

Just wear a nicotine patch, or don't go in to the departures area after check in until the last possible moment, leaving enough time to catch your flight of course. The food is terrible both sides by the way, or if not terrible then stupidly expensive.

Try it if you want as UKBAbble said.

I am curious regarding the motivation behind your question GlassPrisoner79. Suely you wouldn't to all this just for a cigarette?!

If this purely down to having a cigarette....airports are now completely non-smoking...restaurants both land and air-side, and no little smoking booths! No separate exit which won't involve you going back through immigration checks. I'd take UK Babble's advice if I were you.

I've done exactly this many times without problem at Schiphol Airport (Amsterdam). Not for a smoke (I'm non-smoker) but other reasons. The only thing is to take your boarding pass with you; without it you cannot get back into the departure lounge. It may also prove more difficult if you need a visa for the country where the airport is; apart from visa issues I'm not aware of any legal objections. Checked-in baggage plays no role in this discussion; the only issue there is that it will be unloaded from the plane if you do not actually board the plane on time.
The layout of the airport may be another issue: at big transfer hubs like Heathrow or Schiphol it should be fairly easy. At a smaller airport (I happen to know Manchester pretty well) it can be that departing and arriving passengers are completely separated and then it may be impossible to leave the departure lounge after you've gone through security.

Quite possible and "technically" allowed.

However, most UK terminals have Arrivals and Departures on separate floors. So if you passed through security, it may be a bit complicated to find your way back to where you were. But certainly, if you speak to the "right" officers there, it should not be a problem - prepare yourself for a lot of questions and arm yourself with a good reason other than "smoke a ciggy" - ALL terminals have designated smoking areas on the other side of security.

I once had to do this at Frankfurt Airport, since I bought some stuff after my security check and had to return to check-in area because the VAT claim office was not within the security area - this was about 6 years ago... not sure if this is still the case.

Having said and done all that, and albeit this question is interesting, I still don't see its relevance to this forum - General UK Immigration.

Cheers.

fysicus wrote:I've done exactly this many times without problem at Schiphol Airport (Amsterdam). Not for a smoke (I'm non-smoker) but other reasons. The only thing is to take your boarding pass with you; without it you cannot get back into the departure lounge. It may also prove more difficult if you need a visa for the country where the airport is; apart from visa issues I'm not aware of any legal objections. Checked-in baggage plays no role in this discussion; the only issue there is that it will be unloaded from the plane if you do not actually board the plane on time.
The layout of the airport may be another issue: at big transfer hubs like Heathrow or Schiphol it should be fairly easy. At a smaller airport (I happen to know Manchester pretty well) it can be that departing and arriving passengers are completely separated and then it may be impossible to leave the departure lounge after you've gone through security.

Thanks, this is what I was looking for. I think it may depend on the airport. In my case, the smaller London airports, it may be impossible.

Straying off track from immigration issues...but Gatwick have removed their 'designated smoking area' from inside the terminal....outside now by the bus stop with a big sign above it and an ash bin. ..presumably in line with the new smoking laws.

drjabberwocky23 wrote:I am curious regarding the motivation behind your question GlassPrisoner79. Suely you wouldn't to all this just for a cigarette?!

Those ciggies sure can be addictive!!

So I'm told...

Can't see why it should be a problem as long as you are correctly documented.i.e having a valid visa if you need one.

Happens a lot where I work. Passengers often fly into the airport from all over the world intending to get a connecting flight maybe several hours later, realise they can't smoke in the departure lounge and decide to come out to smoke. Me and my colleagues never make an issue of it unless of course they don't have a visa.

If it was me I'd be thinking; checked-in luggage, + passenger wanting to leave airport = possible bomb on plane...

Luckily, they generally have Stella Artois airside so my needs are catered for..

checked-in luggage, + passenger wanting to leave airport = possible bomb on plane

that's why your baggage is unloaded as a standard procedure when you don't report to the gate in time for boarding the plane. What the passenger does in the time between checking-in and boarding is totally irrelevant for this aspect.

I doubt whether security would let you back out the way you get in to departures. But if you go through the arrivals control, there shouldn't be much to stop you.
I remember many years ago when I was sat at the desk during a quiet period a gent walked through whom I immediately recognised as Lord Prior, formerly a member of the Thatcher cabinet. "Got a letter to post", he said, "can't do it airside."

Last year I landed at Heathrow T5 and needed to go to speak to Lufthansa's lost luggage counter at T2 regarding a lost bag from a flight a few days earlier. I followed the directions for connecting flights, and when I got to T2 I told an officer I wanted to leave and go through customs and security. He opened a door connecting the departures and arrivals area and let me through without any questions.

c1mth0g wrote:Last year I landed at Heathrow T5 and needed to go to speak to Lufthansa's lost luggage counter at T2 regarding a lost bag from a flight a few days earlier. I followed the directions for connecting flights, and when I got to T2 I told an officer I wanted to leave and go through customs and security. He opened a door connecting the departures and arrivals area and let me through without any questions.

That's different. You had arrived in the UK. You were not a passnger who had already gone from landside to airside here.

I think the main problem is suspicion of why you would want to do so. If you have a valid reason such as "My wife just collapsed at home and I'm cancelling my trip" then I dare say they would let you past.

If it was for something as mundane as a smoke then you will probably get denied and pointed towards one of those beautiful yellow tar ridden boxes. Yum yum.

Generally there is very little reason to do what you have asked and it would only raise suspicion around yourself, however if a valid reason is presented I see no reason why not, you'd just have to go through all the same security checks again when you re-entered. Simple as.

UKBAbble wrote:

c1mth0g wrote:Last year I landed at Heathrow T5 and needed to go to speak to Lufthansa's lost luggage counter at T2 regarding a lost bag from a flight a few days earlier. I followed the directions for connecting flights, and when I got to T2 I told an officer I wanted to leave and go through customs and security. He opened a door connecting the departures and arrivals area and let me through without any questions.

That's different. You had arrived in the UK. You were not a passnger who had already gone from landside to airside here.

But they don't know that ... I could have gone from landside to airside in T2 (I was in the area where people were waiting for flights - where all the shops are).