Heathrow 'worst airport in Europe'

Heathrow Airport has been labelled the "worst in Europe" by a senior executive at a major US airline.

Don Langford, head of customer services Europe for American Airlines, described Heathrow as a "bit of a dump" and said it was suffering from chronic under-investment.

Originally designed to handle 45 million passengers, the west London airport is presently used by some 65 million flyers each year.

Langford likened that to "trying to put ten pounds of sugar in a five-pound bag" and said that evidence of overuse was apparent throughout all of the airport's terminals.

He told the BBC: "Heathrow is not just bursting at the seams - I think the seams have burst … I would have to say that Heathrow is in many ways the worst of all the airports that my company flies to in Europe."

When pressed about the precise nature of its shortcomings, however, the executive provided scant detail - singling out such things as "missing light bulbs" and "duct tape on the floor".

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