The New Heathrow Terminal 5 – making London even more accessible

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On 2 November 2007 British Airways, UK Trade & Investment and British Chamber of Commerce in Denmark invited a select group of individuals from Danish businesses to have an exclusive look at the new Heathrow Terminal 5 - the new home of British Airways which will open 27 March 2008.

BCCD members Mærsk, Danske Bank, G4S, Nykredit, Saxo Bank, Shell and Scanplan together with Biogen and APV were given a tour of Terminal 5 and shown some of the exclusive features of a modern, 21st century airport. This included 96 self-service check-in kiosks and on-line check in service to help to reduce queues and wait times when checking in. The terminal also has a new baggage reclaim system which uses proven technology to make it as reliable and as fast as it can be.

Terminal 5 has two separate Security Control Areas to reduce waiting times to a minimum. When British Airways move to Terminal 5, other airlines will move to different terminals too. Airlines will be grouped together with their alliance partners providing more connections within the same terminal, and that should mean an easier journey for passengers, not to mention improved transport possibilities to London.

The participants had lunch at the Mansion House hosted by Alderman John Stuttard, Lord Mayor of the City of London, who visited Copenhagen in June 2007. When in Copenhagen the Lord Mayor met with representatives from banking, shipping and education sectors who expressed concerns over the one-bag restriction that is in place at all UK airports and the long wait times for security. His lunch was an excellent opportunity to have a frank round table discussion on all the issues involved. "The participants were very impressed with what they saw and experienced in Terminal 5. They were also happy that concerns of the frequent business visitor had been taken into consideration in the development and design of Terminal 5," says Christina Liaos, Director of UK Trade and Investment Denmark.

On 14 November 2007 Secretary of State for Transport announced that passengers will be able to carry more than one bag onto aircraft as soon as UK airports confirm they are ready. BAA Heathrow will work with government officials to the remove one bag restriction at UK airports as soon as possible after 7 January 2008.

2008 looks like it is going to be a good year for travelers and Heathrow alike.