I think unless we see some facts on paper ( or net) , we are talking about hear & say here.

As u guys conclude, it sounds crazy. Yes it does!!! It aint supposed to work that way...

About 3 years back, When some of my relatives visited me from India via UK via British airways, I had heard people discussing this same topic, and this is what i had concluded. "When ur flying via these hip-hop countries, some of these countries do need a transit visa, but it is ur airlines, who internally take cares of this technicality. They have arrangements with these countries to include the cost of the transit visa in their air-fare. So as long as u dont clear the customs, and dont leave the transit area, u dont have to go thru these bull-shit visa formalities. Its always been there, but has always worked like a black-box. U never new it existed. U were never supposed to worry about it. "

Imagine, every Indian flying to US/Canada/Europe via London, having to go to the British consulate to get the transit visa, so that he can fly the prestigious British airways.

I guess we could send a couple of email inquiries to these airlines asking them to clarify.

Perhaps, For the problems faced by some of these people, there were other technicalities that we arent aware of.... (transit > x hours/transfer via another airport/ignorance or confusion on the part of airline employee, incorrect explanations/incorrect understandings/etc,etc)
Somtimes ignorance can work wonders...

bison

Source:
http://www.britainusa.com/visas/other_show.asp?SarticleType=25&Other_ID=313

Direct Airside Transit Visa

If you are one of the passport holders listed below and will transit the UK airside (i.e. NY-LHR LHR-destination, and not NY-LHR-LGW- destination, staying in the UK less than 24 hours) you should apply online and send your application form with all your supporting documents.

The following countries require a Direct Airside Transit Visa to transit the United Kingdom. This is the case even if you only intend to remain airside and will not pass through UK Immigration.

AFGHANISTAN, ALBANIA, ALGERIA, ANGOLA, BANGLADESH, BELARUS, BURMA (MYANMAR), BURUNDI, CAMEROON, PEOPLES REPUBLIC OF CHINA, COLOMBIA, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO (ZAIRE), ECUADOR, ERITREA, ETHIOPIA, GAMBIA, GHANA, INDIA, IRAN, IRAQ, IVORY COAST, KENYA, LEBANON, LIBERIA, MACEDONIA, MOLDOVA, NEPAL, NIGERIA, PAKISTAN, PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY, RWANDA, SENEGAL, SERBIA AND MONTENEGRO, SIERRA LEONE, SOMALIA, SRI LANKA, SUDAN, TANZANIA, TURKEY, TRNC, UGANDA, VIETNAM, YUGOSLAVIA, ZAIRE (FORMERLY DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO), ZIMBABWE.

If you hold a passport from one of these countries, you will need a visa unless you qualify under one of the exemptions. If you intend to stay airside and do not need to pass through UK immigration you will need a Direct Airside Transit visa. If you need to pass through UK immigration (e.g. to change airports or to stay overnight) you will need a visitor in transit visa. If you are travelling to the Republic of Ireland, you must pass through UK immigration and you will need a visit visa.


Exemptions: Certain exemptions to this requirement have been introduced and apply to all DATV nationals. The following categories of traveller are not required to hold a DATV and may still benefit from the Transit Without Visa (TWOV) concession.
YOU ARE EXEMPT IF:
You are travelling from a third country to the USA or Canada, regardless of your routing and you hold a valid visa for the USA and Canada; or

You hold a valid airline ticket for travel via the United Kingdom as part of a journey from Canada or the USA to another country or territory, providing that you do not seek to transit the United Kingdom on a date more than six months from the date on which you last entered Canada or the USA with a valid visa; or

You have a valid US I - 551 Permanent Residence Card (Green Card) issued on or after 21 April 1998; or

You have a valid US Immigrant Visa and Alien Registration - Form 551; or

You have an expired I - 551 Permanent Residence Card (issued on or after 21 April 1998) and a valid I-797 letter issued by the Bureau of Citizenship authorising its extension; or


You have a valid Canadian Permanent Residence Card issued on or after 28 June 2002; or


You have a valid common format Category D visa issued by EU/EEA member states; or

You have a valid common format EU residence permit issued under Council Regulation (EC) No 1030/2002;

You hold a diplomatic or a service passport issued by the People's Republic of China; or

You hold a diplomatic or an official passport issued by the government of India; or

You hold a diplomatic or an official passport issued by the government of Vietnam.
Note:

Holding an I-512 Parole letter or an I-797C (Notice of Action) instead of a valid US visa; or a Transportation Letter instead of a valid US Permanent Resident Card issued on or after 21 April 1998 does NOT qualify you for exemption from the DAT visa requirement.

Holding a valid travel document with an ADIT stamp - worded "PROCESSED FOR I-551. TEMPORARY EVIDENCE OF LAWFUL ADMISSION FOR PERMANENT RESIDENCE VALID UNTIL ......EMPLOYMENT AUTHORIZED" - does NOT qualify you for exemption from the DAT visa requirement.

If you do not qualify from one of the above exemptions you should apply online and submit the following documents to your nearest entry clearance issuing post.

If you intend to change airports in the United Kingdom you will require a Visit Visa.


Supporting Documents
You will need to supply all of the following in original form:
Your passport (note: It should be the original document and have ample validity).

One passport size photograph (Click here for example).

Evidence of your Immigration Status in the USA. Please submit the original document. Copies will only delay your application.
Alien Registration Card (Greencard)
H1-B Visa
Advance Parole Document
Employment Authorisation Card
Valid IAP66/DS 2019
Valid I20, signed on the reverse by designated school official
Valid I-94
B1/B2 Visitors please click here

Confirmed Flight Reservation
(Do NOT purchase the ticket before the Visa is issued).

Please provide original documents and copies of all requested documents in support of your application. Please also provide a daytime telephone number.

See basically if any airline flies somebody in violation of visa policy there uis a hefty fine. So therfore they catch the agent who gave the passenger boarding pass and fire him/her for letting the passenger get on.
So in order to save their job and A.. these reservation agents become more strict then is necessary.
I called French consulate in Houston today and they said Indian passport DOES NOT need a visa if there is a valid US/Canadian visa in the passport. They do need transit visa for France if said US/Canadian visa has expired. However I did not wish to take chance and I applied for the visa anyway. They charged me $ 46 USD which is much better than being sent home from the airport - effort/frustration etc as well as making a change in the ticket which costs $ 150.
But UK definitely requires visa unless you have entered US less than 6 months ago.
This experience has made my intention to leave US and come to Canada stronger.

What these rank idiots making the policy don't get is that by forcing people to get visas stamped on their passports, they are making it easier for people to illegally stay in their country.

If you don't have a visa, you cannot leave the airport - you have to stay within the terminal area.
At best, you can change terminals, but that is usually possible only by using internal shuttles or inter-terminal trains.

However, if you have a visa, you can leave the airport and enter their beautiful, highly secure country.
That encourages people to enter the country, and never leave or seek asylum.

If someone wanted to stay in the UK illegally, all they have to do is buy a ticket to some other country, changing planes in London, then get a transit visa.
Once in London, simply walk out of the airport by using the transit visa and claim asylum.

How much more screwed can their logic be - instead of keeping illegal immigrants out, they are making it easier for them !

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"Mah deah, there is much more money to be made in the destruction of civilization than in building it up."

-- Rhett Butler in "Gone with the Wind"