With the 2012 Summer Olympics approaching at full-speed, London's Heathrow airport has been besieged with passengers. Local politicians have claimed that the airport is not prepared for this type of traffic and British official have called upon The TSA to come over and help out during the Olympics.
TSA Agents from the U.S. are traveling across the pond to help Heathrow deal with security measures, as well as other U.K. airports. The agents will be there one week before the games and will remain one week after the games end, on August 12. The agents will assist in British and U.S. airlines coming to and from the U.S. and will not do inspections, screen passengers or be allowed past boarding gates.
On Monday, athletes, officials and media flew into Heathrow. A record number of passengers are expected to come through for the beginning of the July 27 games. Athletes from over 50 countries will come through Heathrow's gates and handle about 236,955 passengers. Heathrow normally takes in about 100,000 to 110,000 arrivals a day.
Along with TSA agents, Heathrow enlisted approximately 1000 volunteers to greet arrivals.
Nick Cole said to The Huffington Post, "We have spent seven years preparing for the Games' challenge. Now we are putting that planning into action with thousands of extra staff and volunteers on hand to welcome the world to London."
Another big arrival day for Heathrow will be July 25 which is two days before the Opening Ceremony. Although London has other international airports such as Stansted, Luton and Gatwick, Heathrow is the only airport where Olympic participants can get their Olympic credentials.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
