British Airways and Virgin Atlantic both run self-service bag drop at Heathrow, letting you print your own bag tag and send a checked bag through without queuing at a staffed desk. British Airways uses hosted self-service kiosks across Terminal 5, and Virgin Atlantic has dedicated self-service kiosks and a bag drop area in Zone A of Terminal 3. Several other long-haul carriers at Terminals 2, 3 and 4 have rolled out similar kiosks over recent years, but availability varies by airline, so check your own airline's app or Heathrow page before you fly. Checked against British Airways' and Virgin Atlantic's own airport information pages, October 2026.
How self-service bag drop works at Heathrow
The general process is the same across airlines that offer it:
- Check in first. You need a boarding pass, either printed at home, saved to your phone, or collected from a self-service touchpoint at the terminal.
- Scan your boarding pass at the bag drop kiosk.
- Print your own bag tag and attach it to your case.
- Place the bag on the belt. The kiosk weighs and screens it, and it's sent off for loading the same way as a staffed desk bag drop.
Staff, sometimes called hosts, are stationed near the kiosks to help if a bag is overweight, a tag won't print, or you need an oversized or fragile-item desk instead, so it isn't a fully unstaffed process even though there's no queue at a traditional counter.
British Airways: Terminal 5 (and some Terminal 3 flights)
British Airways' own Terminal 5 guidance sets out a clear three-step journey: collect your boarding pass from a self-service touchpoint if you don't already have one, tag and drop your bag at a hosted self-service bag drop point, then go straight to security. Check-in closes 60 minutes before departure for long-haul flights and 45 minutes before for short-haul, and you should be through security at least 35 minutes before departure. A small number of BA flights still use Terminal 3, where the same basic check-in deadlines apply; check your booking for your departure terminal.
Virgin Atlantic: Terminal 3, Zone A
All Virgin Atlantic flights from Heathrow depart from Terminal 3. The airline's own airport guide directs passengers to Zone A for a dedicated bag drop area, with self-service check-in kiosks also located in Zone A, open from 05:00 to 21:30. Counter check-in and bag drop for Virgin Atlantic opens four hours before departure and closes one hour before. Virgin Atlantic operates as a joint venture with Delta Air Lines at Heathrow, and Delta's Terminal 3 flights use a comparable self-service set-up.
Other airlines and terminals
Heathrow has run a terminal-wide rollout of self-service bag drop kiosks (built by ICM Airport Technics) covering carriers at Terminals 2, 3 and 5, historically including Aer Lingus, Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Croatia Airlines, Eurowings, Finnair, LOT Polish Airlines, Lufthansa, Scandinavian Airlines and Swiss International Air Lines alongside British Airways, Delta and Virgin Atlantic. Many of these carriers still operate from the same terminals today, but exactly which kiosks are live, and for which routes, can change as airlines update their check-in technology. If you're not flying BA or Virgin Atlantic/Delta, check your airline's own Heathrow page, its app, or the information screens in the terminal on the day, rather than assuming a kiosk will be available.
Does self-service bag drop save time?
Yes, generally. A self-service bag drop takes most passengers under two minutes once they reach the kiosk, against a potentially longer wait at a staffed counter during a busy check-in window. It doesn't remove the need to arrive within your airline's standard check-in deadlines, though, since the bag still has to be screened and loaded in time for the flight.