Terminal 5: Heathrow’s latest wonder for the stylish traveller
Dec 16, 2007
THE whistling British Airways aircraft comes to a halt. And in the fast descending wintry darkness, we alight from the BA 062 flight from Entebbe International Airport. It is 4:00pm GMT and we are at Heathrow Airport in the UK. <br>It feels strange here where darkness comes as early as 4:00pm and t
By Stephen Ssenkaaba in Heathrow, London
THE whistling British Airways aircraft comes to a halt. And in the fast descending wintry darkness, we alight from the BA 062 flight from Entebbe International Airport. It is 4:00pm GMT and we are at Heathrow Airport in the UK.
It feels strange here where darkness comes as early as 4:00pm and the cold permeates the thickest jacket.
It feels strange being at Heathrow, an airport about five times bigger than Entebbe. Along the stretch of tarmac and neat lawns; I see flickering lights and busy men and women-some dressed in white and blue, others in fluorescent green sleeveless jackets, pacing up and down.
I get swallowed by the corridors of Terminal 4, losing my way to the arrivals lounge. With walkie-talkie wielding policemen in every corner, boutiques and snakes of escalators, Terminal 4 is confusing. I have gone through an electronic check and witnessed a sophisticated baggage process.
I have been warned of surveillance gadgets, delayed flights, long queues and missing baggage.
Since opening in 1946, London Heathrow Airport is the world’s busiest airport. Currently handling about 90 airlines and 64m passengers (20m more than it was designed for) annually, it has become too small.
Plans have been under way to expand the airport since the 1980s. And, after about 20 year, the UK’s busiest airport is ready to unveil a new face. terminal 5, expected to revolutionise air travel, will be unveiled on March 27, 2008.
Situated at the western end of the airport, Terminal 5 is tipped to be one of the world’s busiest airport terminals. The £4.3b investment will cater for around 30m passengers annually and provide ample terminal capacity to enable optimum use of its runways.
At a recent British Airways media tour of the terminal; I stood in awe as our guide took us around the huge glass and steel complex. “It has five floors, each the size of five football pitches,†she said. Even then, she said, moving around will be easy because of the clear signage and escalators.
The main building has over eight levels, with the main entry to the departures floor at the top. It has 96 check-in kiosks and 18km of belts and tracks to move bags around the terminal, processing 12,000 bags per hour.
On arrival, customers will move to the kiosks, onto the bag drop desks, before going through security and the retail area towards aircraft gates.
British Airways has fitted large ‘beacons’ as orientation landmarks, making it clear for customers where they need to be. “There are plenty of screens around the terminal denoting the location of each gate,†says our guide.
British Airways staff is also on hand to answer inquiries.
Once the customer has checked in, they can deposit their luggage at one of the over 100 desks. The bags will be loaded into lifts and lowered down into the baggage system that will deliver them to their specific flight.
Up to 90% of British Airways transfers will happen through Terminal 5. The transfer channels will be highlighted with purple signs, easing customers’ move from one flight another. An underground transit system has been installed to transfer customers between buildings.
The system will move 6,500 passengers per hour and transport more people per day between Terminal 5A and Terminal 5B. The journey will be 45 seconds.
There will be six lounges within the new terminal. The key lounges include: The Concorde Room, the First class lounge, three Club Lounges and an Arrivals Lounge.
The retail facilities at Terminal 5 promise to be good. There will be 144 stores and restaurants across Terminal 5A and B.
Mulberry, Hughes and Hughes, Mapin & Webb, Links, smythson, Caviar House & Prunier and Café Amato, Starbucks, Caffe Nero, Eat, Krispy Kreme and Apostrophe are some of the names that will be available in T5,†said our guide.
Environmental concerns were at the heart of the public skepticism before the construction of Terminal 5. The construction of T5 paid attention to environmental safety. “85% of waste on the project has been recycled and reused throughout the building process,†said the guide.
The centrepiece of the new terminal will be an open-air plaza between the passenger arrival points and the terminal, which will have fountains and cafes.
Planning for the construction of T5 began in 1985, leading to a national design competition in 1989, which was won by the Richard Rogers Partnership.
Construction of T5 began in 2002.
Since the start, the project has been the subject of much controversy.†I don’t know, let us wait and see,†a lady at Heathrow airport sneered when I sought her opinion about T5.
David Rousham, the British Airways area commercial manager for Central and Eastern Europe called, the project “a chance for us to re-launch ourselves to regain our position as the leading airline.â€
For all the skepticism and anticipation, Terminal 5 promises to revive what our tour guide called “the joy of flyingâ€.
INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT TERMINAL 5
The main building will be 396m long, 176m wide and 39m high worth 60 aircraft stands.
More than 30,000 square metres of glass have been used to glaze the termial.
The 900-tonne control room was built off-site to avoid disrupting flights.
T5 was built on 650 acres.
T5A is 396 metres long and 176 metres wide. It is the UK’s biggest building.
Over 100 hectares of the T5 site were excavated by 80 archaeologists in the UK’s largest single-site excavation. The two rivers that bisected the T5 site — the Duke of northumberland’s and the Longford — had to be diverted along the western edge to pave way for the construction.
T5 is currently Europe’s largest building site, employing 6,500 people.
It will contain 105 lifts and 65 escalators.
30 million passengers are expected to go through T5 annually.
It has 9,000 leather seats.
There will have 4,000 spaces at the multi-storeyed car park.
Compiled by Stephen Ssenkaaba
The witer flew to Heathrow courtesy of British Airways
THE whistling British Airways aircraft comes to a halt. And in the fast descending wintry darkness, we alight from the BA 062 flight from Entebbe International Airport. It is 4:00pm GMT and we are at Heathrow Airport in the UK.
It feels strange here where darkness comes as early as 4:00pm and the cold permeates the thickest jacket.
It feels strange being at Heathrow, an airport about five times bigger than Entebbe. Along the stretch of tarmac and neat lawns; I see flickering lights and busy men and women-some dressed in white and blue, others in fluorescent green sleeveless jackets, pacing up and down.
I get swallowed by the corridors of Terminal 4, losing my way to the arrivals lounge. With walkie-talkie wielding policemen in every corner, boutiques and snakes of escalators, Terminal 4 is confusing. I have gone through an electronic check and witnessed a sophisticated baggage process.
I have been warned of surveillance gadgets, delayed flights, long queues and missing baggage.
Since opening in 1946, London Heathrow Airport is the world’s busiest airport. Currently handling about 90 airlines and 64m passengers (20m more than it was designed for) annually, it has become too small.
Plans have been under way to expand the airport since the 1980s. And, after about 20 year, the UK’s busiest airport is ready to unveil a new face. terminal 5, expected to revolutionise air travel, will be unveiled on March 27, 2008.
Situated at the western end of the airport, Terminal 5 is tipped to be one of the world’s busiest airport terminals. The £4.3b investment will cater for around 30m passengers annually and provide ample terminal capacity to enable optimum use of its runways.
At a recent British Airways media tour of the terminal; I stood in awe as our guide took us around the huge glass and steel complex. “It has five floors, each the size of five football pitches,†she said. Even then, she said, moving around will be easy because of the clear signage and escalators.
The main building has over eight levels, with the main entry to the departures floor at the top. It has 96 check-in kiosks and 18km of belts and tracks to move bags around the terminal, processing 12,000 bags per hour.
On arrival, customers will move to the kiosks, onto the bag drop desks, before going through security and the retail area towards aircraft gates.
British Airways has fitted large ‘beacons’ as orientation landmarks, making it clear for customers where they need to be. “There are plenty of screens around the terminal denoting the location of each gate,†says our guide.
British Airways staff is also on hand to answer inquiries.
Once the customer has checked in, they can deposit their luggage at one of the over 100 desks. The bags will be loaded into lifts and lowered down into the baggage system that will deliver them to their specific flight.
Up to 90% of British Airways transfers will happen through Terminal 5. The transfer channels will be highlighted with purple signs, easing customers’ move from one flight another. An underground transit system has been installed to transfer customers between buildings.
The system will move 6,500 passengers per hour and transport more people per day between Terminal 5A and Terminal 5B. The journey will be 45 seconds.
There will be six lounges within the new terminal. The key lounges include: The Concorde Room, the First class lounge, three Club Lounges and an Arrivals Lounge.
The retail facilities at Terminal 5 promise to be good. There will be 144 stores and restaurants across Terminal 5A and B.
Mulberry, Hughes and Hughes, Mapin & Webb, Links, smythson, Caviar House & Prunier and Café Amato, Starbucks, Caffe Nero, Eat, Krispy Kreme and Apostrophe are some of the names that will be available in T5,†said our guide.
Environmental concerns were at the heart of the public skepticism before the construction of Terminal 5. The construction of T5 paid attention to environmental safety. “85% of waste on the project has been recycled and reused throughout the building process,†said the guide.
The centrepiece of the new terminal will be an open-air plaza between the passenger arrival points and the terminal, which will have fountains and cafes.
Planning for the construction of T5 began in 1985, leading to a national design competition in 1989, which was won by the Richard Rogers Partnership.
Construction of T5 began in 2002.
Since the start, the project has been the subject of much controversy.†I don’t know, let us wait and see,†a lady at Heathrow airport sneered when I sought her opinion about T5.
David Rousham, the British Airways area commercial manager for Central and Eastern Europe called, the project “a chance for us to re-launch ourselves to regain our position as the leading airline.â€
For all the skepticism and anticipation, Terminal 5 promises to revive what our tour guide called “the joy of flyingâ€.
INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT TERMINAL 5
The main building will be 396m long, 176m wide and 39m high worth 60 aircraft stands.
More than 30,000 square metres of glass have been used to glaze the termial.
The 900-tonne control room was built off-site to avoid disrupting flights.
T5 was built on 650 acres.
T5A is 396 metres long and 176 metres wide. It is the UK’s biggest building.
Over 100 hectares of the T5 site were excavated by 80 archaeologists in the UK’s largest single-site excavation. The two rivers that bisected the T5 site — the Duke of northumberland’s and the Longford — had to be diverted along the western edge to pave way for the construction.
T5 is currently Europe’s largest building site, employing 6,500 people.
It will contain 105 lifts and 65 escalators.
30 million passengers are expected to go through T5 annually.
It has 9,000 leather seats.
There will have 4,000 spaces at the multi-storeyed car park.
Compiled by Stephen Ssenkaaba
The witer flew to Heathrow courtesy of British Airways