Terminal 5 to open to passengers

[Nikki]

Heathrow's new Terminal 5 is set to open to the public as British Airways begins operating from the building.
A BA flight from Hong Kong will be the first to arrive at the £4.3bn facility. The first departure is due at 0620 GMT, when a service leaves for Paris.

Both BA and the airport operator BAA are promising a better passenger experience and fewer delays.

Anti-airport expansion groups hope 500 people will take part in a "flash mob" protest at the terminal at 1100 GMT.

Organisers say they intend to carry out a "peaceful and legal event" at the international arrivals area.

The demonstrators - environmentalists and local residents - are opposed to plans for a third runway and sixth terminal at Heathrow.

BAA said it was "people's right" to protest and the airport owner was not expecting passengers to be disrupted.

Fingerprint plan

Until Wednesday, BA services were spread across three of Heathrow's terminals.

The airline has had to embark on a major exercise overnight to move aircraft and handling equipment to the new terminal.

Initially, BA will operate domestic and European services from Terminal 5, as well as long-haul flights that currently operate from Terminal 1.

The first flight to use Terminal 5 will be BA26 from Hong Kong, with the airline's first woman pilot Captain Lynn Barton at the controls. It is expected to land at 0450GMT on Thursday.

The inaugural departure will be flight 302 to Paris, which is due to leave at 0620GMT.

Both BA and BAA have warned passengers it will take time for the new terminal to "bed down".

Meanwhile, BAA has had to drop controversial plans to fingerprint domestic passengers after the information commissioner expressed concerns about the move.

The airport operator said fingerprinting was needed for border security. Instead it will take photographs while the proposal is discussed with the commissioner's office.

Environmental protests

While BAA says the opening of Terminal 5 will not see any more flights operating to and from Heathrow, environmental groups are not convinced.

John Stewart, from anti-expansion group Hacan ClearSkies, said: "The real reason it [Terminal 5] was built was to provide the terminal capacity to allow more flights on the existing runways, which will mean more noise, more pollution and more stress for those living under the flightpaths."

Environmental campaigner Andrea Needham, who will be taking part in the "flash mob" said it would be a "fun event with a very serious purpose".

"Climate change can be beaten, but not by almost doubling the size of the world's biggest international airport," she said.

But BA chief executive Willie Walsh, writing in the airline's staff newspaper, said Terminal 5 would not "solve our problems".

"There continue to be problems at Heathrow with a lack of runway capacity and T5 will do nothing to sort this out," he said.

Once BA has completed its terminal changes, BAA plans to start moving other carriers to Terminals 1, 3 and 4, where they will be grouped according to airline alliances.

Terminal 2 will then be demolished, to pave the way for a new facility - Heathrow East - which BAA hopes will be ready in time for the London Olympics in 2012.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7314816.stm

[Nikki]

just seen on the ceefax apparantly that there has been some problemns with luggage etc. so passengers only with hand luggage can go through. passengers with luggage either have a refund or had a very long delay and swap to another one.
not very good for the first day really imo.

[gunner]

Lol, BA have fucked something up big time, but won't say what.. What a cock up.

[Over Carl]

Apparantly the actual belt for the luggage cocked up, as well as did a lot of flights, only 5 are leaving tonight.

[Nikki]

Update

Flight cancellations at the new Terminal 5 of London's Heathrow Airport look set to continue for several days.

British Airways called off 37 flights from T5 on Sunday. A further 54 services will not operate on Monday and some may also be disrupted on Tuesday.

The chaos is due to problems with the baggage handling system. About 15,000 bags are stranded across all terminals.

BA said it was working hard to clear the backlog and hoped to increase the percentage of flights taking off.

A total of 208 flights in and out of the terminal were cancelled during T5's first three days. On Sunday, BA said 85% of its 331 scheduled flights were running normally.

The fifth terminal opened amid great fanfare on Thursday, but difficulties with the baggage handling system and with staff training quickly derailed operations.

On Sunday, BA said the system was now "generally working well" and 400 staff members had volunteered to come in on their day off to sort through piles of stranded suitcases.

A team of engineers and IT specialists from BAA and BA are also dealing with problems as they arise.

Bags for UK destinations will be returned by courier, while international luggage will be put on the next available flight.

In a statement BA said: "A backlog of undelivered bags has built up. This backlog is not affecting the day-to-day operation of the baggage system, and we are making every effort to reunite delayed bags with their owners.

"We have more than 400 volunteers from across the airline supporting this effort.

"This work takes time as delayed bags must undergo enhanced levels of security screening. Much of this process has to be done manually because we have been unable to use the Terminal 5 baggage system to process these bags automatically.

"We are sorry for the disruption and inconvenience caused to customers whose flights have been cancelled or whose bags have been delayed."

The company said it and BAA had "invested an enormous amount of time and effort to create Terminal 5", and remained confident that "these early difficulties can be overcome".

'Full-blown tantrum'

But, at the airport on Sunday, some passengers remained critical.

Kerry Johnstone, 35, said she found out only upon arrival at T5, from the electronic board, that she faced an eight-hour delay on a flight to Copenhagen.

"Everyone has to find out when they get here," she said. "It's appalling that such a big organisation has got it so wrong. I can't check in, because they don't know what flight I'm going to be on.

"There was a two-year-old child screaming next to me. When one of the staff tried to make light of it, I said that was exactly what I felt like doing.

"I feel like having a full-blown tantrum but I'm too old."

Government on stand-by

Transport Minister Ruth Kelly said she had spoken to airport operator BAA and BA: "While the problems at Terminal 5 are for them to resolve, I have made clear that the government stands ready to assist.

"Everything possible must be done to deliver a better service for passengers who are unfortunately still facing disruption and delays to their journeys."

The Conservatives have called for an inquiry into the "chaos and confusion", with Shadow Home Secretary David Davis calling the situation "a dreadful national embarrassment".

Liberal Democrats home affairs spokesman Chris Huhne said the infrastructure project was an "incredible shambles" which "neither British Airways nor BAA seem to be able to put right quickly".

Plans reviewed

The problems have led BA to consider postponing the transfer of its long-haul operations at Terminal 4 to the new Terminal 5, which had been scheduled for the end of April.

"We haven't said we will alter the original plan," a spokesman said. "But obviously, in the light of what has happened in the last few days, it is prudent to review the situation."

The airline has also faced criticism after initially imposing a £100 upper limit on hotel accommodation costs for delayed passengers.

BA has since said it will consider any "reasonable accommodation cost" claims and the Civil Aviation Authority has written to the company to make sure it complies with European legislation on passengers' rights.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7320497.stm

[GTI]

What a complete and utter embarassment. To hell with British and Polish jobs, next time just give the contract the Germans.