Countdown begins for key new airport terminal

This week marks a major milestone to the opening of Heathrow’s Terminal 5. Airport operator BAA and British Airways will this week begin an intensive six month period of operational readiness activities in preparation for the opening of the terminal on 27 March 2008.

Operational readiness activities include induction and familiarisation programmes, staff training and over 70 separate proving trials, with these activities running in parallel to the final completions work which includes fit-out, systems integration and finishing works.

From this week over 30,000 staff from different organisations will be taken through comprehensive familiarisation and induction programmes at the new terminal. BAA and British Airways jointly begin a series of basic tests involving the different individual elements of the building, including for example, signage and wayfinding, the check-in process or evacuation procedures.

The series of complex integrated trials begins in November and will give volunteers the opportunity test out the new terminal under realistic airport conditions.

Over 16,000 people have been recruited to act as volunteer passengers and will thoroughly test every aspect of the building including car parking, check-in, baggage systems, IT systems and security.

Willie Walsh, Chief Executive of British Airways, said: “We can’t wait to open the doors to our customers on March 27 next year. Terminal 5 is a fantastic opportunity for British Airways and will transform our operations with less queuing, faster baggage systems and better punctuality.

“Our customers will have exclusive use of Terminal 5 and this will allow us to offer unparalleled standards of comfort and convenience.

“This week marks the start of the next phase with the beginning of six months of rigorous testing and staff familiarisation sessions.” “These next few months will prove critical in the overall success of Terminal 5.”

Mark Bullock, Managing Director Heathrow said: “Historically, airport projects have encountered problems on opening or have opened late as there has not been enough time at the tail end of construction to undertake sufficient testing.” “To avoid similar problems at Terminal 5, we began commissioning parts of the building up to a year ago including for example the baggage system.”

“This is another major milestone hit on schedule, and I look forward to the opening of Terminal 5 on 27 March next year.”

FEATURES OF T5

** Terminal 5 will become the exclusive new home for British Airways serving around 30 million passengers a year.

** Terminal 5 is the biggest free standing building in the UK. The main terminal building is 40m high, 396m long and 176m wide. The first of two satellite terminal buildings is linked to the main terminal by an underground transit system.

** The T5 baggage system is the biggest, single-terminal baggage handling system in Europe. It comprises two systems, a main baggage sorter and a fast track system. The fast track system enables time critical bags to be assigned a priority routing through a separate high speed system and delivered direct to the aircraft stand of the departing flight.

** Terminal 5 is linked to the London Underground and the Heathrow Express rail service that goes directly into central London.

** British Airways is moving towards 80 per cent of passengers using online check-in or using a self service kiosk when they arrive at the terminal. The latest technology is also being applied to fast bag drop facilities. There will be 96 self service kiosks and 140 customer service desks, including 96 fast bag drops. Passenger flows have been extensively modelled to ensure there is minimal queuing at every stage.

** Waste heat from the existing combined heat and power station at Heathrow provides Terminal 5 with 85 per cent of its heat on demand.

** Water from Terminal 5’s rainwater harvesting system and groundwater boreholes has reduced the terminal’s mains water demand by 70 per cent. The harvesting scheme re-uses up to 85 per cent of the rainfall that falls on the T5 campus.

British Airways will move into T5 in two planned stages one month apart.

On March 27, 2008 the vast majority of shorthaul services and all longhaul services from T1 and T3 will move to the new terminal.

One month later the T4 long-haul services (with the exception of the Australia, Singapore and Thailand services jointly operated with Qantas) will follow suit.

The airline will co-locate a small number of services (around eight per cent, including the Australian, Singapore and Thailand services) with its oneworld alliance partners close-by in T3.

Following the opening of T5, over 50 of Heathrow’s 90 airlines will move location enabling airline alliance groupings to operate from the same terminal.

About British Airways:

British Airways has a worldwide route network that covers 145 destinations in more than 70 countries.

British Airways is one of the world’s largest international airlines carrying approximately 36 million passengers around the world every year. British Airways will move into its new home at London Heathrow’s Terminal 5 on March 27, 2008.

For further information on British Airways visit http://www.ba.com/.

Report by The Mole