Business | Aviation
Heathrow's new terminal will ease congestion
British Airways passengers passing through London Heathrow are in for a treat from March 27, as the airline shifts its entire operations to the new Terminal 5, which will be its exclusive facility.
- By S. Bandyopadhyay, Staff Reporter
- Published: 23:39 January 29, 2008
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- Terminal 5 will eventually consist of a main terminal building (T5A) and two satellite buildings (T5B and T5C), linked by an underground track transit system.
London: British Airways passengers passing through London Heathrow are in for a treat from March 27, as the airline shifts its entire operations to the new Terminal 5, which will be its exclusive facility.
The £4.3 billion (Dh31.6 billion) building is the largest free-standing structure in Europe, and has the capacity of handling a whopping 30 million passengers a year. This added capacity will bring much-needed breathing space for the existing infrastructure.
At present, the four terminals at Heathrow handle a combined 68 million passengers a year, while it was built to handle only 45 million.
Planning for the mega structure, spread over 260 hectares, started way back in 1993. Work finally began in 2002, after which work progressed at top speed.
Terminal 5 will eventually consist of a main terminal building (T5A) and two satellite buildings (T5B and T5C), linked by an underground track transit system. While the first two buildings are ready and will open in March, T5C will open in May 2010.
The whole concept behind Terminal 5, which has been designed by Rogers, Stirk, Harbour and Partners, is to make passengers feel at ease, officials said. Late last year, The Daily Telegraph reported that passengers passing through Heathrow undergo stress that is worse than being "mugged at knifepoint".
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Terminal 5 promises to take all that stress away, at least for those travelling via British Airways. According to British Airways' estimates, passengers will take an average of twelve-and-a-half minutes to get past the security check after they enter the airport premises.
The new terminal has made check in procedures simpler through 96 self check-in kiosks. "It is assumed that more than 80 per cent of our passengers will check in online using ba.com," British Airways' general manager for Terminal 5 David Lawrence said. To ensure that passengers who are not comfortable with the new technology do not feel out of place, one customer service staff will be present for every four kiosks, he added.
Loss of baggage has been one of the critical areas tackled at Terminal 5. With a new system in place, it will be able to handle upto 12,000 bags per hour. There are 18 kilometres of baggage belts in place, of which only a third is expected to be used, Lawrence said.
A major feature of the new terminal is the facilities at the lounges for premium travellers. Six new lounges, built at a cost of £60 million, are being given the final touches. Together, the lounges will host 2,500 passengers, which represents a 25 per cent increase in capacity over the current lounges at Terminal 1 and Terminal 4. Facilities for first class travellers include a spa, bedrooms and conference facilities.
Main issue
The main issue now is the continuous testing of the facilities. "We recently invited 2,500 people to pose as real-life passengers to test the facilities," said Robbie Baird, British Airways' area general manager for Asia Pacific. This is most crucial as recently, airports like those in Bangkok, while being completed on time, had several glitches during the opening days as the facilities were not tested. Terminal 5 is working to ensure such problems do not happen.
British Airways will initially move half of its operations from other terminals, including those from London Gatwick, to Terminal 5. The other half will move in on April 30, which will include flights from the Middle East, Lawrence said.
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