I read that 50 times but still can't make sense of it.
Sorry, it had been a long day in the fog. What I meant to write was "should NOT be used on the ground". Nowhere else I have ever flown to uses 5 letter designators for ground holding points, it causes confusion every day at LHR with ATC often having to repeat the message 3 or 4 times to an overseas visitor who simply does not understand what is being said when Pluto or Saturn or Ettiv are mentioned.
that's exactly how holding points should be named. Alpha 1 is the 1st holding point on taxiway A, Alpha 2 is the second etc.
No it's not, according to ICAO recommendations the runway holding point designator should not include the same letter as the taxiway serving it. So any holding point designator leading off the Alpha taxiway should not include an A. The only place at LHR where this recommendation is implemented (no doubt by chance) is the North side of 27L/09R. There are plenty of other airports around the world where the same applies but all the ones I have used that have recently been changed to be ICAO compliant don't do it. Just fly 30 minutes East to AMS to see how it should be done, LHR is a total mess by comparison.
And whilst I am having a rant. Why is it that at night when we are supposed to "follow the greens and stop at the reds" are the (non compliant) holding points not blocked with a red stop bar. I have lost count of the number of times that someone (including me a few times) has got a bollocking from ATC for going past Saturn or Titan or Horka when the green lights merrily carry on straight past it to a red stop bar further down the taxiway. Pretty sure they all have stop bars so please use them.