Pampered Fliers Can Avoid Hassle, Check In Without Leaving Their Limo

There are drive-in movies and drive-through restaurants. Now Virgin Atlantic Airways has come up with drive-up airport check-in.

Virgin Atlantic, which already offered complimentary chauffeur service to its business customers, now allows passengers to check in at London’s Heathrow without leaving the luxury of their limo.

Boarding passes are issued electronically by the limo driver. Once at the airport, the car is met by a porter, who asks the passenger security questions and collects the luggage.

After being cleared, the passenger rides the limo up to the second floor, disembarks and crosses on a covered bridge into the terminal near the security and immigration desks.

“The most stressful time for the traveler is not when they’re on the plane. That’s when they’re relieved,” said Richard D’Ambrosio, a spokesman for the London-based airline. “They’re stressed out when they’re getting to the airport. They’re always running late. They’re always worried that there’s going to be a line at the ticket counter. It’s madness.”

In the two weeks that the service has been offered in London, about 200 people a day have been taking advantage of it, D’Ambrosio said.