First impressions count - and few are impressed by Heathrow Airport. Whilst we British just grumble about delays as we depart on holiday, for the thousands of overseas travellers arriving every day the 'Heathrow experience' proves to be the low point of any visit, emphasised consistently in passenger surveys. Poor passenger conditions, out of date facilities and queues and long delays are now synonymous with Heathrow. It is a British embarrassment and its damaging reputation is having a knock-on effect which the Government should take at least some responsibility for addressing by holding the airport operator, BAA, to account and by improving immigration control at the point of entry to the UK.

Tourism is Britain's sixth largest industry so attracting people to Britain must be something we get right. Competition for inbound tourism is now global and when our growth rate in the UK is compared with the global average we under-perform by around 5m visitors to the UK each year, meaning our tourist industry foregoes a potential £3bn each year.

So why are we under-performing? BAA argues that extra security measures mean delays are inevitable. However airports such as Washington DC or Singapore face the same terrorist threats and are able to avoid lengthy delays. It also points to the new Terminal 5 development which will undoubtedly change Heathrow's service but will not come fully into play until 2011. This re-organisation also means that Terminals 1 and 2 will be closed for refurbishment once planes have been re-allocated to the new terminal. Whilst the new Terminal 5 building will undoubtedly be more up to date and impressive than other terminals, it will not improve the life of air traffic controllers as the airport is already working to 98.5% capacity and this capacity cannot be increased by a new terminal building. With a plane landing around every 90 seconds there is no scope for error and the system is prone to chaos, as was evidenced in July last year when bad weather crippled the airport for almost a week.

BAA owns not only Heathrow but also Gatwick and Stansted Airports. It is timely that the Competition Commission is reviewing whether it is now time to break up this monopoly and introduce some long overdue competition between London's principal airports. This absence of competition has led to a lack of investment which lies at the very heart of Heathrow's present shortcomings. Out of date baggage handling facilities and a shortage of trained staff cause the confusion most passengers now dread. Over 2,000 bags are misplaced every day.

Some 1300 take offs and landings taking place daily, therefore processing passengers efficiently is fundamental if delays are to be avoided. Yet, despite its strategic importance, Heathrow has failed to introduce changes seen at other international airports in order to manage increases in passenger numbers and higher levels of security. Delays can be so severe that some travellers on short-haul journeys can spend longer in immigration queues, or taxi-ing to and from the terminal building to the runway, than on their flight.
The absence of competition between London airports also means BAA has been able to secure huge profits from duty free shopping malls at the expense of investment (and space) in security clearance procedures. Around 40% of BAA's profits now come from non air-related commercial operations. There is a stark contrast between the acres of shopping facilities provided compared with the limited space for scanners and security checks. This imbalance, exploiting the passengers' wallets verses pursuing efficient passenger processing, needs to be addressed.

All the blame cannot be laid at the door of BAA. Take Terminal 4. Around 24 large aircraft land and deposit passengers between 5.30am and 7am every day, flying in from all corners of the globe. Yet there are only two immigration officers on duty during this period dealing with non EU passports (leaving another half a dozen checkpoints empty) causing a queue of hundreds of passengers to snake its way out of the passport area and add an extra hour to the process. The Government chose to double air passenger duty last February, providing the Treasury with an additional £1 billion. It seems little of this extra revenue has found its way to improve immigration control at our airports.

BAA is responsible for the largest and most important airports in the world but Heathrow is out dated and is failing as a respectable gateway to Britain. Our premier international airport is slowly turning into a national disgrace and is damaging our international reputation both as a strategic hub and tourist destination.