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1) Heathrow Airport
Terminal 5 -
Is now officially open. It is roughly 15
years since BAA, Heathrow's proprietor
and then
recently created heir to the former, state-owned British Airports Authority, applied
for planning permission to build the terminal. It is
seven years since the Government, following a
marathon public inquiry, gave it the green light. The
4.3 billion terminal will handle some 27 million
passengers a year from the outset and an extra
three million from 2011 - nearly half the current
annual total of 68 million passing through Heathrow's four
existing terminals, which were designed to handle 45
million.
Expectations are that travellers
should be able to negotiate the terminal with minimal
delay and hassle. The aim of British Airways, which will
be its sole airline occupant, is that four out of five
passengers will check in either online or at one of 96
self-service kiosks in the new building. Those who
do not can use one of more than 100 check-in desks. Some
90% of transfer passengers can switch flights without
leaving the building. BA promises that the new baggage
system is designed to cope with 12,000 bags per hour and
will deliver them to the carousels at unprecedented
speeds. Travlleers by train will use a station beneath a
plaza, running the length of the building and landscaped
with 40 trees, fountains and - in good weather - an
outdoor cafe. The five storey terminal will provide 60
additional aircraft stands on top of the existing 264.
which should reduce the frustration of waiting on the
tarmac for a parking space. A total of 54 airlines will
change terminals in eight phases. Just under three
quarters of BA flights will switch to Terminal 5
immediately now it has opened.
The Lounges
- BA will operate six lounges offering
25% more capacity than those in terminal 1 and 4
together and a huge increase in the number of showers
and toilets. A first class lounge will cater for 156
passengers and will
incorporate a boardroom. The Galleries First lounge, for First Class and
gold status Executive Club members, will have free
internet access and offer regular wine tastings. The largest
will have room for up to 830 Business Class
customers and gold or silver Executive Club
members, who will also be able to use
a similar lounge, designed for long-haul travellers, in
the satellite building. There will also be an
Arrivals lounge. BA will also provide in-lounge
Elemis spa treatments for First & Business customers, plus
gold & silver frequent flyers.
The Timetable
March
27th 2008 -
70% of BA
Heathrow flights will move to terminal 5 including long-haul
flights and UK domestic flights from terminal 1, all
short haul flights from terminal 4, and short-haul
flights from terminal 1, except for Barcelona, Helsinki, Lisbon, Madrid and
Nice. Miami flights, which currently operate from terminal 3,
will also move to terminal
5.
March 29th
2008 -
American Airlines transfers its Raleigh/Durham route and one of its two
daily Dallas/Fort Worth flights from Gatwick to terminal 3.
March 30th
2008 -
BA moves its daily
Dallas/Fort Worth flight and twice-daily Houston service from Gatwick
to Heathrow terminal 5
.
April 30th 2008
- A further 20%
of BA Heathrow flights move
to terminal 5, including long-haul flights currently operating at
terminal 4 (New York, Washington, Delhi and Cape Town), with
the exception of flights operated as part of the code-share agreement with
Qantas (Bangkok, Singapore & Sydney).
September 17th
2008 - BA flights to Barcelona, Madrid,
Lisbon, Nice & Helsinki move from terminal 1 to
terminal 3. Finnair's Heathrow flights move from terminal
1 to terminal 3. Iberia's Heathrow flights move
from terminal 2 to terminal 3. Iberia sister airline
Clickair (which is not part of Oneworld) also moves
at this time.
Early
2009 (date has yet to be finished) - BA flights to Bangkok,
Singapore, Sydney (operated with Qantas code-share) move
from terminal 4 to terminal 3. Qantas flights move from
terminal 4 to terminal 3.
The opening of
Terminal 5 has not run as smoothly as hoped but
British Airways have said that they are working towards
operating 92% of its schedules from terminal 5 by the
end of the week (Friday 4th April). BA have also
commented "We understand how frustrating this is. We are
very sorry for the inconvienience this has caused". BA
Chief Executive Willie Walsh has apologised to customers
but also has said that the new terminal was steadily
improving.
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Excerpts from the
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