March 19, 2002

4:30 AM

Robbers escape with $3m (£2.1m) in cash after hijacking a van at Heathrow Airport, London, the second such raid there in recent weeks. Nice to see that security has improved then, at the worlds busiest airport after 9/11. via BBC
posted by MintSauce (12 comments total)

Airport crime is rife. Luggage is stolen all the time, but this is certainly ballsy.

I doubt they'll get away with it though. It has the smell of 'crap thief' all over it. If they are youths in their 20's they will already have bought rude bimmers with gigantic sound systems. The police just need to follow 'da bass'.
posted by Frasermoo at 4:51 AM on March 19, 2002

Not to be a pedant, but I'm pretty sure Atlanta's Hartsfield International is actually the world's busiest airport (in terms of passengers and aircraft movement, anyway).

It looks like Heathrow is number four, also after LAX and Chicago (ORD).

http://www.airports.org/traffic/
posted by syzygy at 5:00 AM on March 19, 2002

Syzygy: absolutely. I have travelled thru both ATL and LHR extensively (dozens of times each). LHR is small compared to Hartsfield. Moreover ATL is way better: I never had luggage lost or stolen in ATL (I have at Heathrow) and usually I get my luggage at ATL as soon as I get to baggage claim, not 40 minutes later (LHR T2 and T3). Never mind the distances and walking needed in LHR (the ATL robo-train *rules*).

Sorry for the rant, but the constant bragging from Londeners about this sorry excuse for an international airport has gotten to me ("world's busiest international airport"). I am pretty sure that they are including the qualifier "international" to exclude Hartsfield and O'Hare's domestic traffic, but include, say London-to-Amsterdam or Belfast in Heathrow's...
posted by costas at 5:08 AM on March 19, 2002

It's 'Londoner'. Now stop ranting. All airports are f*cking horrendous by their very nature.
posted by Frasermoo at 5:23 AM on March 19, 2002

Apart from the food halls. They serve some of the best food in London AND the rest of the world.
posted by Spoon at 5:31 AM on March 19, 2002

It also has a better, longer running TV show than the others. Even LAX.
posted by vbfg at 5:46 AM on March 19, 2002

More proof that Heathrow needs tighter security ;)
posted by iconomy at 5:52 AM on March 19, 2002

isn't it why they call it thiefrow...

I agree with Frasermoo, all airports are bad especially if you are forced to wait for an extended period in them... I want to know who designs the chairs for airports they are almost as bad as A&E departments!

Also (as a Londoner) I don't care where the biggest/busiest airport is I just want my flights to run on time beyond that I don't care.
posted by roobarb at 5:57 AM on March 19, 2002

Just like to add, I'm a Bristolian not a Londoner. Our airport is pathetic by anyones standards ;o)

Heathrow is still the busiest in Europe and a virtual gateway to the rest of the continent. Which makes it all the more worrying....
posted by MintSauce at 6:35 AM on March 19, 2002

"SEXY BEAST"II. 3M quid turns up missing and all you can do is complain about the airports.
posted by clavdivs at 8:44 AM on March 19, 2002

I like these robbers, they seem almost old fashioned with their lack of violence. The thought persists though, that they must be pretty well connected as their descriptions and M.O seem very similar to the February felons. The thought that they came back for seconds so soon is slightly troubling; as is the fact that they clearly knew what they were about.
I hope I havent been secretly admiring people who rob airports to fund terrorists.
posted by Fat Buddha at 9:11 AM on March 19, 2002

probably a cash consighnment for diamonds (south africaer was the point of origin?) The perps were asian? They did use violence to some degree. The ballys nature gets me. Like a page from "Heist" "I havent been secretly admiring people who rob airports to fund terrorists." i dont think so. in u.s. we have a tv ad running...well it roughly equates "if you do drugs, you support terrorists" this was an inside job with probably some fianacial hacking involved(manifests, shipping dates, containers #'s etc.)
posted by clavdivs at 9:55 AM on March 19, 2002