T5 headed for summer of hell

London: Holidaymakers are facing a summer of hell at Heathrow, experts have warned.

Growing passenger numbers will send the baggage system into meltdown and create massive queues at the new £4.3 billion (Dh31.56 billion) T5, according to insiders.

The number of bags handled at the troubled terminal will treble to 75,000 when long-haul flights are transferred to the new building in June.

Passengers will also double to 80,000 a day yet BAA said there were no plans to change the handling system that descended into chaos last month.

A T5 source said: "Everyone here is bracing themselves for when long haul passengers arrive. If staff think they are under pressure now it will be nothing compared with what lies ahead."

No progress

One leading aviation analyst added: "They've had the terminal since last September. What are they going to do in eight weeks to make it work?

"What have they done to strengthen the management - have they appointed anyone? Not that I'm aware of. I wish them well but it's a monumental mess. The company's image has been shot to pieces."

Theresa Villiers, shadow transport secretary, said: "I am very worried about whether they will be able to cope with three times the amount of baggage given the current system.

"Most people won't appreciate the dramatic uplift in the number of bags going through T5."

The flagship terminal became a cardboard city only days after its opening on March 27, with hundreds of flights cancelled and passengers forced to sleep on the floor.

Two executives have since been sacked but BA has claimed many of the "nuts and bolts" problems have been ironed out.

Officials are still aiming to transfer long-haul flights by June but there are clear signs the move could be delayed.

Willie Walsh, BA chief executive, said the move could be spread out between the start of June and the end of October to ease the strain. But air industry consultant John Strickland warned this will leave hundreds of thousands of passenger stranded between terminals.

"People will find they are booked on itineraries which will now not work because they are based on a one-hour connection time at T5. Now they'll need two hours because there is a big physical distance between T5 and T4.

"There's a view in BA that T5 is a 21st-century building with a 19th-century working practices mentality.

"This is one of the problems Walsh is trying to confront. They are dragging people kicking and screaming into the 21st century."

City analyst Andrew Fitchie, of Collins Stewart, said it would be months before the terminal is running smoothly.

"There have been glitches and bugs in the software which have been exacerbated by BA staff not being used to the new systems," he said. "Will that all be sorted out in a month? Perhaps not. But over three months I would expect them to be having the problem wrapped up."