London 2012 volunteers return for Heathrow’s Christmas getaway

• Heathrow volunteers return for festive send-off
• Friday 21 December expected to see the most departures from Heathrow
• Secret Santa surprises for passengers reach luxury peak on Friday

2012-12-20 — /travelprnews.com/ — The Christmas season at Heathrow is in full swing with 123,000 passengers expected to depart on Friday 21 December – the most during the Christmas period. To ensure every passenger’s journey gets off to smooth start, volunteers who joined Heathrow during the London 2012 Games will be returning to assist passengers.

The volunteer scheme was considered a major success of the Games period at Heathrow, contributing to the airport’s best ever performance score for July arrivals and August departures as rated by passengers. December sees the return of 150 volunteers who are enthusiastic about continuing to give a warm welcome to passengers travelling through the UK’s only hub airport.

Nancy Baines, 19 and John Baines, 69, are father and daughter from Chorleywood, Hertfordshire and have been in Terminal 5 helping spread Christmas cheer.

Nancy, a student at Leicester University enjoyed her time so much as a volunteer for the Games that she could not wait to come back; “Everyone is really grateful and appreciative of our help. So many passengers have said that they wish we were here all year round to help. I think it’s great to be at Heathrow as a volunteer – I am having a lot of festive fun and have learnt some really useful skills.”

The volunteers are working across the terminals helping passengers by giving away children’s fun packs and reminding people about rules, particularly restrictions over things like Christmas crackers. Rather than the distinctive pink that the volunteers wore over London 2012 Heathrow’s volunteers are now wearing a purple Heathrow sash to make them easy to recognise.

Throughout the month of December, Heathrow’s Secret Santa campaign has delighted passengers on a daily basis with unexpected gifts including:

• 6 Apple iPads, 12 Hamley’s teddy bears, 100 fragrances by Lady Gaga and an electric scooter by Lacoste
• Two watches for him and her worth £5,000 to be given away on the 21st
• Appearances by Santa and elves handing out over 20,000 chocolates
• Welcoming carol singers clocking up over 48 hours of song
• Craft sessions for children with more than 1,200 Christmas cards already made

Normand Boivin, Chief Operating Officer at Heathrow said:

‘Christmas is a special time for Heathrow as our passengers travel to make connections with loved ones. I am particularly delighted to welcome back our London 2012 volunteers who were such a great success during the Games.’

Notes to editors
For more information please contact the Heathrow press office on 0208 745 7224 or email heathrowmediacentre@baa.com

• On average the number of passengers arriving and departing each day at Heathrow is 190,100 (split 50:50 between arriving and departing).
• Online shopping with ‘Heathrow Boutique’ allowing passengers to browse and reserve purchases before they arrive at the airport www.heathrow.com/boutique Home delivery service ‘Heathrow delivered’ to have purchases delivered for free to any UK mainland residential address – WorldPoints members can benefit from this service with purchases of £300 (or £500 for non-members)
• During July and August, Heathrow received the highest ever scores for its Quality Service Monitor (QSM) which is carried out monthly on airport through a survey of 3,100 passengers.
• Full details of Heathrow’s Christmas activities are available at www.heathrow.com/Christmas
• Brands involved in the 24 days of surprises include; Apple, Oakley, Lacoste, Jimmy Choo, World Duty Free, Ted Baker, No 1 Traveller, Expo art gallery, Heathrow Express, Rhubarb, Hamleys, Godiva, Sunglass Hut, Police, Hackett, WHSmiths, Caviar House.
• Passengers travelling through Heathrow can benefit from two new shopping services which have launched in time for Christmas;
  • Online shopping with ‘Heathrow Boutique’ allowing passengers to browse and reserve purchases before they arrive at the airport www.heathrow.com/boutique
  • Home delivery service ‘Heathrow delivered’ to have purchases delivered for free to any UK mainland residential address – WorldPoints members can benefit from this service with purchases of £300 (or £500 for non-members)

Contact information
Name Heathrow Airport media centre
Telephone +44 (0)20 8745 7224
Email heathrowmediacentre@baa.com

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