Story by Alesia Fiddler, Daily Mail

London Heathrow Airport’s boss Thomas Woldbye has revealed plans to improve overcrowding in the hub.

The airport’s chief executive has declared British passengers and Europeans are ‘crashing into each other’ as they navigate the airport, rather than it being too busy. 

Heathrow sees a whopping 200,000 travellers each day and in January saw 6.5million people – making it the busiest January on record.

But, Thomas argues the problem is Europeans walk on the opposite side to Brits and it can cause issues.

At an Aviation Club UK event, Thomas said: ‘One of the jokes I have with our people is that one of the reasons Terminal 5 is crowded, which it’s not actually, is people are in the wrong place.’

According to The Times, the airport boss added: ‘One of the reasons is that all the British people choose the left and all the Europeans keep to the right. 

‘And they do that [in] both directions, so we get everybody crashing into each other and I see that from personal experience.’

He revealed exactly how busy the different terminals get at the major hub and explained: ‘Interestingly Terminal 3 is one of the ones that scores best, and Terminal 5 is one of the worst and there’s way more space in Terminal 5.’

Heathrow’s chief executive has declared British passengers and Europeans are ‘crashing into each other’ as they navigate the airport, rather than it being too busy

Thomas Woldbye (pictured) argues the problem is Europeans walk on the opposite side to Brits and it can cause issues

The airport is trying to improve the flow of passengers through methods such as ‘decluttering’ departure lounges.

This includes removing seats and other items, such as phone boxes, that might take up unnecessary space. 

Heathrow is the UK’s largest airport and recently ranked as the third busiest in Europe.

Research by flight compensation specialists SkyRefund revealed Heathrow saw 1,315 daily flights in 2025. 

In December, the hub unveiled a huge overhaul of Terminal 4 as part of a £1.3billion investment this year. 

London Heathrow plans to spend the whopping amount on improving various parts of the hub as part of its five-year investment programme, H7.

T4 will receive a major revamp, with construction planned to start next year in phases to ensure operations continue as normal. 

It will include a brand new multi-storey car park as well as an upgraded check-in area, and the work is expected to be finished in 2031.

The airport is trying to improve the flow of passengers through methods such as ‘decluttering’ departure lounges

Terminal Two is also set to receive a new dedicated baggage system next year. 

Some 31,000 bags per day will be handled by the new system, and will help improve efficiencies and service for passengers. 

A new assistance area will also be built in the terminal, giving passengers direct access to security, and all assistance areas across Heathrow will be upgraded.

The investment will also cover the installation of cameras across the airport’s stands that will use AI to speed up the processes between flights.