At least part of what the UK media dubs "the Heathrow hassle" was due to come to an end on 27 March, when the London airport’s fifth passenger terminal officially opened for business.
The US$6.3 billion new facility has a capacity of 30 million passengers a year – equivalent to the throughput of London’s second airport, Gatwick, or nearly half of Heathrow’s current 68 million passenger throughput. For the first time, it allows British Airways to bring almost all its Heathrow flights together in one location.
Almost all, because Terminal 5, which was first proposed 15 years ago and was delayed by an interminable planning enquiry, is already too small for the flag carrier. Though BA and UK airports operator BAA boast that it is five times the size of terminal four, one of BA’s current homes, T5 is only big enough to accommodate 90 per cent of BA flights.
Services to Australia, New Zealand, Bangkok and Singapore flights will thushave to be housed in nearby Terminal 3, along with the flights of BA’s Oneworldalliance partners, Qantas, Iberiaand American Airlines. However, thatis still an improvement on the previoussituation, when BA services were splitbetween Terminals 1 and 4, with oneof the world’s busiest runways betweenthem.
Mixed blessing for cargo
For cargo, the move is a mixed blessing. While Terminal 4 is next door to British Airways World Cargo’s high tech cargo facility, Ascentis, T5 is a 1.3 kilometre drive away around a new airport perimeter road. Steve Gunning, managing director of British Airways World Cargo, reveals that as a result the carrier has had to invest US$40 million in 85 new cargo vehicles, 482 dollies, and an extra 165 drivers – the latter a rise of 50 per cent on current levels.
On the other hand Gunning expects that with more efficient passenger operations, BAWC will be able to offer a muchmore predictable service to its cargo customers, with more on-time departuresand less missed connections.
"If we have a more robust passenger service, we will have a more robust cargo service," he says. "Combined with our exciting plans for upgrading our fleet, that gives us a good platform from which to grow."
He also does not rule out offering tail to tail transfers for cargo sometime in the future. However, initially all transit cargo will still pass through Ascentis, and transit times will not be shortened as a result of the opening of T5.
Improved on-time performance for BA at T5 will depend partly on its new hi-tech baggage system performing to expectation – delayed baggage has been a significant cause of late departures in recent years – and on T5’s double width taxiways with exits either end, which should eliminate flight delays caused by aircraft waiting to enter the narrow cul-du-sacs in the older Heathrow terminals.
Most Asian customers will have to wait a bit to see these benefits however. On 27 March only short-haul flights moved to T5, along Tokyo and Hong Kong flights and a few other long-haul services. Most Asian services will follow on 30 April, but Australasian flights, including Singapore and Bangkok flights, will not move till early 2009.
T5 only the beginning
The opening of T5 is just the first phase in a major revamp of Heathrow, which will see its current terminals 1 and 2 demolished in phases and replaced with a new facility, Heathrow East. In theory this is supposed to be ready by the 2012 London Olympics, but there are already indications this deadline will slip.
The revamp will enable the three big alliances to each get their own terminals. Thus SkyTeam carriers will move into terminal four, and the Star Alliance initially into terminal 1, and later into Heathrow East.
One aspect of the Heathrow hassle that will not be resolved by the upgrade, however, is the shortage of runway slotsat the airport, whose two runways are almost completely full. The UK governmentapproved a third runway inprinciple in 2003, but this is hugelycontroversial.
Protestors recently unveiled a banner on the roof of the UK parliament and on the tail of a BA plane parked at Heathrow to protest against the plan, and when formal planning procedures started recently for a second runway at London’s third airport, Stansted, they were also greeted by vociferous protests.
Meanwhile, airlines are unhappy at a massive 23.5 per cent rise in Heathrow airport charges that was approved on 11 March by the UK Civil Aviation Authority.
The CAA said this was to pay for the revamp of Heathrow, but airlines said the extra funds would be used to fund the debts of Ferrovial, the Spanish company that bought BAA in a highly leveraged deal in 2006.
British Airways is also facing massive new competition on its core transatlantic routes as US-EU open skies kicks in this month, allowing Continental, Northwest, Delta and Air France to start services to America from Heathrow.
Gunning insists that from a cargo point of view, it will be business as usual, saying that BAWC is "already competing with other European hubs for cargo".
He is pinning his hope on winning more premium cargo from the more reliable T5 service, and increasing BAWC’s low 13 per cent share of the UK air export market.
Meanwhile BA’s passenger division will be hoping T5 makes travellers forget about the days of Heathrow hassle. Only time will prove whether either or both are right.
