Terminal 5 Is Alive!

After years of red tape, environmental campaigns against it, political apathy and airline demands to rejuvenate London Heathrow Airport, today, the long awaited Terminal 5 is fully operational.

In the early hours of this morning, British Airways flight BA026 operating the Hong Kong-London Heathrow route with a Boeing 747-400 landed at the airport heralding a new era for both airline and airport.

Image copyrighted and owned by BOEING777 and FleetBuzz.com

Its been a long time coming and advocates of a sixth terminal and third runway will be desperately hoping that the next consultation stage does not last as long as Terminal 5’s enquiry did.

At the helm of the first flight arriving into T5 was BA’s own very first female pilot, Lynn Barton. Back in 1987, she became an overnight celebrity in becoming the first woman to fly for the UK’s flagship airline and her career since then, has literally, taken off.

Image courtesy of The Evening Standard

While British Airways still has to combat missing luggage, moving its operations into one terminal will certainly assist the carrier in achieving that goal. The proximity to Terminal 3 will also assist in the transferring of passengers amongst its partners in the oneworld alliance too.

Upper two images courtesy of BAA Aviation Photo Library

The EU-US Open Skies deal is also just a few short days away from being implemented too. For British Airways, preparing for the mammoth task of settling into its new home while tackling the onslaught of wider competition is no easy task.

Ultimately, first impressions count.

Passengers will judge BA on Terminal 5 and how the airline copes with managing all variables under one roof - its a big stage for a big airline, and the promise of a bigger Heathrow depends on how well the airline responds to the challenge it now faces from both overseas airlines and the needs of its customers.

As day one has worn on, things have not been running as smoothly as BA and airport operator BAA would have liked.

Delayed flights, passengers missing connections, baggage belts breaking down, missing luggage and staff not being able to log onto workstations has demonstrated that the best thought out plans can still go wrong.

3 comments March 27th, 2008