UK airport arrivals process: from landing to collecting your car

After leaving the aircraft, follow signs for Arrivals, Passport Control or Baggage Reclaim. Flight Connections signs are for passengers continuing their journey, not those leaving the airport to collect a car.

Keep your passport and any relevant immigration documents accessible rather than buried in your hand luggage. Domestic flights and journeys within the Common Travel Area can follow different arrival procedures, so use the signs for your flight rather than assuming every route passes through the same checks.

Your return terminal may differ from your departure terminal. Check the airport’s live arrivals information before arranging collection. If this affects your journey, see our guide to [returning to a different Heathrow terminal](/guides/heathrow-different-departure-arrival-terminals).

At the UK border, follow the queue signs and staff instructions. The correct route depends on your passport, eligibility to use ePassport gates and who is travelling with you. A biometric passport alone does not mean every traveller can use the gates; check current GOV.UK guidance if you are unsure.

At an ePassport gate, remove your passport from its cover and follow the screen instructions. Remove sunglasses or other items that obscure your face. If the gate does not let you through, follow directions to a staffed desk.

When travelling with children, check whether everyone is eligible for the same queue. Keep the group together and ask staff where to go. If relevant, have evidence of your relationship to a child or permission to travel with them available.

Beyond passport control, check the baggage screens using your flight number and departure airport. Flights from the same city can arrive close together, and belt allocations may change.

Keep your baggage receipts until you have collected and checked everything. Match the tag on each suitcase to your details rather than relying on its colour or appearance.

Pushchairs, sports equipment and other oversized items may arrive at a separate collection point. Ask the airline’s baggage team if an item is not on the main belt. A pushchair handed over at the aircraft door is not necessarily returned there on arrival.

If you have hand luggage only, follow the exit and customs signs without waiting at baggage reclaim.

If your bag does not arrive, check whether the belt has finished unloading and whether your luggage has been placed beside it or at an oversized-baggage point. Then speak to the airline’s baggage handling desk, ideally before leaving the reclaim area.

Keep your boarding pass and baggage tag receipts. Ask for a baggage report reference, often called a Property Irregularity Report, and confirm how to track the case. Photograph visible damage and keep any receipts connected with essential purchases. Reporting a problem at the airport does not necessarily complete an airline claim; check its separate process and deadlines.

Our [missing or delayed baggage guide](/guides/lost-delayed-baggage-uk-airports) explains the next steps. If this delays your exit, update your parking provider using the contact details in your booking confirmation.

Passport control checks your right to enter the country; customs concerns the goods you bring with you. Collect all checked baggage before following the appropriate customs route.

Use the nothing-to-declare route only if you meet the relevant conditions. Goods above your personal allowance, certain restricted items and goods for commercial purposes can require a declaration. If you need to declare something or are unsure, follow the red-channel signs or use the designated customs contact point or red-point telephone where provided.

Check current GOV.UK rules before travelling, particularly for food, plants, animal products, alcohol, tobacco and cash. Requirements can depend on where you travelled from and whether you are entering Great Britain or Northern Ireland. Buying something duty-free does not exempt it from UK arrival allowances.

With Meet & Greet parking, you hand your car to a driver at the agreed departure location and receive it back at the return location specified in your booking. Collection arrangements vary, so use your confirmation rather than assuming the car will be waiting outside arrivals.

Check when you are instructed to call: this may be after landing, after collecting baggage or at another specified stage. If you call before clearing customs, describe your actual progress rather than saying you are ready. Tell the provider about missing baggage, a changed terminal or another delay.

Use the designated collection point. A departures drop-off zone is not automatically a permitted pick-up location, and access rules or charges may apply. For an overview, read [how Meet & Greet parking works](/guides/how-does-meet-and-greet-parking-work).

Landing time is not the same as the time you will reach your car. Leaving the aircraft, walking through the terminal, border queues, baggage delivery and customs can all affect your exit time. Avoid planning around a fixed landing-to-car interval.

With children, check that passports, pushchairs and every bag are accounted for before leaving reclaim. Once in public arrivals, use toilets and organise luggage before confirming that you are ready to meet the driver, unless your booking gives different instructions.

If you need assistance, arrange it through your airline before travel and confirm how you will reach the onward collection point. Our [Manchester airport assistance guide](/guides/manchester-airport-special-assistance) covers that airport’s journey in more detail. At the handover, check the vehicle, collect your keys and secure children and luggage before driving.