Heathrow Airport boss hits out at fake disability TikTok travel 'hack'

The boss of one of the world's busiest airports has hit out at a TikTok travel "hack" aimed at skipping queues.

It involves non-disabled travellers requesting wheelchair assistance in order to be fast-tracked through to their flights.

Heathrow chief executive John Holland-Kaye said the trend was "wrong".

"For passengers requiring wheelchair support we have more demand than we had before the pandemic. Why is that happening? Some of this is because people are using the wheelchair support to try to get fast-track through the airport. That is absolutely the wrong thing to be doing," he told radio station LBC.

"If you go on TikTok you'll see that that is one of the travel hacks that people are recommending. Please don't do that."

LBC host Nick Ferrari called it "outrageous".

A recent TikTok video showed a traveller at Bristol Airport pretending to have an ankle injury, so he could skip queues at security and check-in.

Wolf Jenkins' video, which has been viewed more than 2 million times, provoked a strong reaction with some commentators calling it a "new low" and an "abuse of the system". Others called the stunt "smart".

Heathrow Airport is one of a number of European hubs which has struggled to cope with an increase in travellers. Daily departing passenger numbers were capped at 100,000 earlier this month in order to ease pressure. A huge demand for summer travel coupled with a lack of pilots, cabin crew, check-in staff, and baggage handlers has seen long queues and travel frustration.

Stuff.co.nz