Heathrow T5

[tu chan go]

Is it just me or is the new terminal at Heathrow completely rubbish?

Here's my tale:

Flew in from Bahrain just before Christmas. New terminal should equal lots of jetways but we ended up in the middle of nowhere stepping off the bottom of the steps into pouring rain to get on a bus to take us to the terminal.

My wife had decided to buy me a watch for my birthday. We asked if the Duty Free shop had any Longines - Not in this terminal we were told. So that means that they are sold in other terminals but not the newest one in the country! Yep

We stopped off at the business class lounge intending to shower to freshen ourselves up for the next leg up to Newcastle. We asked the front of house lady if we had to book in for showers. She said "Oh, we don't have showers in this lounge, only in the South lounge" It then took 5 minutes of discussion with her collegue to establish that, yes, they had showers and, yes, you had to book in for them.

On our return trip, we landed from Newcastle and, guess what, another bus ride to the terminal. We were dropped off at the Domestic entrance and started to look for the Flight Connection signs. There were none so we started to follow the crowd (no other option!). Up to the first floor - offices and still no signs. Second floor - still no signs so we asked a BA employee who told us we had to go all the way up to the top floor then through security. He also, very helpfully told us that the VAT returns desk was at the South end.

So, through security, then ask the way to the business class lounge. Told to go along to the middle of the building then down 3 floors and then back to the south end. Went down 3 floors to find that, yes indeed, we had to go to the south end but only to go up 2 floors to get to the lounge. Mad design!! Up 3 floors, down 3 floors then up 2 floors to get to the lounge. We had not hung about and it still took an hour to get to the lounge from landing.

Arrived at the lounge and went through the front desks separately. I was allowed to enter as was my wife but only she was told that our flight would be going from T5 B and not this terminal and anyway, theres no water in this lounge so no washrooms or toilets!!

So, back down to bottom floor to get train to T5B. Decided to do the last bit of shopping there but the choices in the Duty Free section were limited to say the least.

All in all, the place is poorly designed, poorly run and extremely frustrating. :ugh::ugh::ugh::ugh:

[radeng]

I've been through T5 several times in the last year. My opinion is that it's cr*p!

Get through security on the not-quite-as-slow (but for heaven's sake, still slow in comparison with the non-fast tracks at Arlanda, Nice, Frankfurt, Phoenix, San Diego etc) track The security staff are generally a miserable lot with no manners - they have never heard of the words 'please' or 'thankyou'. Additionally, half the time , they don't know the rules on the BAA website! Walk along, down, back the way you came and back up to get to the south lounge - all so you can be forced to pass the tacky shops that Bloody Awful Airports want you to spend money in.

Then there are jetways that leak and get slippery when it rains. Buses out to board - we were given the impression just before it opened that T5 was a proper terminal, not for some flights, a 'bus station on the way to the aeroplane.

When you get back, there a very few moving walkways and an enormous baggage hall with toilets at the ends so you have to walk miles again! T5 - designed by idiots, sold by charlatans, and piad for by suckers called passengers!

[Skipness One Echo]

Ohhh booo hoo dry those tears boys.

T5B is part of T5, it's what we call a "Satellite". The reason for the long walk is to make sure you walk past all the shops before you get to the plane and as for flight connestions signs, I assure you there are f***ing plenty mate, perhaps you should have asked the guide dog.

Dear God if it's soooo bad there are four other terminals and many other airports. I found it rather uneventful ( dull even ) when I was through last week. All new, shiny, ( almost complete it IS Britain after all ) and arrivals is a pice of cake.

The bussing is not unknown throughout Europe, and will remain at LHR even after T5C comes on line as there is not enough space to fit the full BA program on a pier. This is not news and has been known about since Pontious expressed an interest in flying school.

[manintheback]

To add my comments

I suspect limited space on the ground meant using height and floors. Personally for me its a damn site better using escalators and lifts rather than walking for miles around those huge terminals encountered in the USA.

Security - not great, but still better than most parts of the world which shows just how bad security generally is

Bussing to planes - Absurd really but given the terminal space governed by height not width - thats a limitation of the boundaries of LHR

As to lounges, not sure why the policy of BA is an issue of the terminal itself.

Overall design - well its there to make money for BAA, not a convenience for the PAX.

[Final 3 Greens]

I went through ZRH last week, a regular experience.

This is the gold standard for terminal design, IMHO.

It's the little things that help, llike the information about which of the two platform will host the next shuttle train.

Also, as a business class passenger, they have fast track for premium pax which is just that, whereas at T4 (haven't tried T5 outbound yet, will do in 10 days) security feeds economy pax into the fast track line from the economy queue, which again IMHO, shows the lack of understanding of customer service delivery at BAA.

[13Alpha]

Have to agree with many of the comments here re: T5

Flew back to T5 from Hong Kong before Christmas and transferred to an Edinburgh flight.

In spite of the full BA schedule not having transferred there, and it being early on a Sunday morning, a whole host of problems:

o the area for waiting for shuttle trains was very crowded and seems too small
o long wait for a shuttle train
o long queues at the security area and no space for people to queue
o people destined for the Fastrack security queue unable to reach it due to the length of the Slowtrack queue
o the new automatic "leave the tray on the conveyor" system seems slower than the old one
o signage for transferring to domestic flights v. poor
o signage around the departure gates is vague. We left the building to board our EDI flight under an "Emergency exit only" sign. How about a sign saying "GATE xxx" directly above where the gate is ?
o tiny flight information boards, causing even people with 20/20 vision to crowd around creating obstructions
o BA lounge is as soulless as a factory canteen. And fragmented - why do I have to go somewhere different if I want a shower ?

On the plus side, my luggage did get transferred to Edinburgh correctly, so I suppose I should be grateful for that ;)

13Alpha

[dubh12000]

The "advanced" leave the tray on the conveyor system is simply not working as some people thought it would. It slows everything down. A simple time and motion study would have shown this and I would have expected it to have been modified by now.

And, no, I don't want to buy a ticket to win an Audi R8 either! They seem to be getting more aggressive these days too.....it's like the modern day double glazing sales pitch.

[GwynM]

it would be nice if Iris worked as well (morning of 17/12).

Apart from that, mainly going domestic, absolutely clear and simple apart from not having enough x-ray machines open at 6am and sometimes sending you on a long walk to the south security whan you know you have a gate at the northern end

[beamender99]

My experience.
Security queue was a long pain and I agree with

The "advanced" leave the tray on the conveyor system is simply not working as some people thought it would


Signage is very poor.

To add to the trip I was a lonely soul left watching an empty carrousel when a helpful BA person addressed me by name and told me my "lost" case was hidden out of sight to me at the other end of the belt.
Full marks to her.
0 marks to the dozey BA CC who heaved my black Delsey off the belt cos it had a yellow tie on label and did not have the sense or consideration to put it back on the belt.
They got away on time and I did not.

I too had a long walkabout. Customs exit was unmanned so trek to the other one and then back again landside to find wife.

IS anyone out there listening ?

[Xeque]

I've stopped using LHR period. Bangkok to Amsterdam - Premium Economy on EVA then the train to St Pancras. An absolute delight!!

[jethrobee]

I actually quite like T5, going through the fast track to the lounge has generally never taken me more than 15 minutes. I've never had a problem getting through security, but then I normally use the one right at the south end.

I like the BA First Lounge, BA staff are very helpful and there are a lot more of them.

The T5B Lounge is like a ghost town, on the few flights I've flown from T5B its been lovely and relaxing.

But then I dont go to the airport to shop, typically I want to get in the lounge as fast as possible and chill out.

It does seem to take a while getting back in, imho Iris is a complete waste of time, it seems to regularly break down. Is it my imagination or has UK Border control slowed down so that we now think they are really going to clamp down on illegals? Good spin, but hardly worth while!!!

[PAXboy]

jethrobeeBut then I don't go to the airport to shop, typically I want to get in the lounge as fast as possible and chill out.That's an iteresting response, as all the folks who complained in here about T5 (in previous threads too) have all said the same - that they are not interested in the shops BUT have to fight their way past them.

Thus far, I have only had to collect and drop off at T5 but on both occasions found confusing signage on the approach roads to the car park and those useless tiny flat screen displays inside, as well as unhelpful staff.

[Crepello]

In fairness, I've found T5 to be a breath of fresh air compared to what went before it - T3/T4 bus transfers, lots of walking, queueing, ageing and swearing (to myself).

On reflection, it's a terminal that works very well IF you've been through it before, AND you know exactly where you need to go, AND you have time on your side. That's a lot of preconditions, which is darned unforunate.

Bottom line: I'd much rather transfer thru LHR T5 than make an inter-terminal run at Paris CDG. This is not a benchmark BAA should be proud of. Commendable start though - let's hope they build on that.

[strake]

I thought I'd give BA longhaul another chance after a few years away.

However, I was unpleasantly surprised to find myself being bussed out to the a/c and same on the way back.

Does anyone know if this will be normal procedeure going forwards or is there still some building work going on which will solve the issue?

[montag]

Is it my imagination or has UK Border control slowed down so that we now think they are really going to clamp down on illegals? Good spin, but hardly worth while!!!

I asked an immigration officer this question a few days ago. He believes that a few seconds delay have been added to the RFID passport scanner for precisely this reason.

[TopBunk]

Does anyone know if this will be normal procedeure going forwards or is there still some building work going on which will solve the issue?

The plan was always to open T5 with just the main terminal (T5A) and the first satellite (T5B) fully available. Until T5C, the second satellite opens (originally scheduled in 2012?) the plan was always to bus to T5C stands. It is presently ahead of schedule, but I'm not sure of the revised schedule.

BTW, has anyone else noticed that the BAA cheapskates have reduced the building area of T5B which is why you have those extremely long jetways to the end stands? Also, from the look of the T5C, they have decided to save loads of money by building it to a cheaper design (none of the intricate roof support trusses of T5A and T5B).

[radeng]

This bussing to and from the A/C seems to be mainly European thing. I don't remember it at Chicago, Atlanta, Dallas, Phoenix or Los Angeles. But at Heathrow, Charles de Gaulle, Frankfurt, Nice......Pity, because it's a pain the a**e!

[WHBM]

I went BA from T5 to Vancouver last month. T5 was brand new, the terminal at Vancouver is about 10 years old. What a comparison !

Just can't believe how poorly designed so many aspects of T5 are in comparison. The information monitors are like something out of the stone age for their usefulness compared to those in Vancouver (where, for example, they show at the baggage carousel the local TV news, with Teletext subtitles, to while away the few minutes before your bag appears).

Imbecile design issues like the shuttle to T5B, which is a multi-car train, and so it deposits a large number of people all at once every few minutes, feeding a single up escalator, which is an optimum method for a steady flow of passengers. So as soon as the shuttle arrives there is a huge scrum for the escalator which takes a couple of minutes to subside. Then finally it's all quiet and deserted, then the same happens again. It's as if the architects have never designed a large building before.

In the reverse direction the shuttle cannot handle passengers per minute at the rate they disembark from a 747 arrival, so many arriving passengers were missing the next or even the second shuttle because of the crush.

Security that took 20 minutes to get through on a normal of-peak afternoon. The layout issues slowing down their throughput were plain to see. The whole security area seemed to be squashed in so there was space for a "Win a Ferrari" promotion in the middle of the floor as you exited, which of course had all the space they wanted.

The route to the departure gates is amazingly non-intuitive.

For domestic departures BAA seem to have added about 30 minutes, at least, to the time it used to take from London to getting on board a BA T1 departure in the old days.

Even their retail side is poor. Plenty of shops selling inappropriate items like jewellry with nobody,absolutely nobody, buying them, while it is impossible to get any catering at a level between Gordon Ramsay's high-priced place and a huge queue for the couple of Costa Coffee type cafes who never seem to clear their tables.

Down in baggage claim, the BAA signage all points to "Baggage Enquiries" while the BA sign over the desk says "Customer Service". How on earth can the two not have got their words consistent ? Did they ever speak to each other ?

Heathrow is a money-making plain box. Vancouver was interesting architecture, all sorts of notable things throughout - and apparently done at a fraction of the cost. And no queues, despite it being a day of snow disruption.

The sooner BAA/Ferrovial are made to sell off EVERY one of their UK airports, the better.

[Seat62K]

I agree that Vancouver is a pleasant airport to use but there will be no metro rail link until the Winter Olympics, the "Airporter" coach to/from downtown is very expensive and the local Translink bus only serves the domestic terminal (with passengers who use it having to change to get to/from downtown).
I think that compared with Heathrow, Vancouver simply has the capacity to cope with the numbers using it. For example, I've never had to queue when using the FastTrack security line.
(During the recent snow, though, there was absolute mayhem when it came to locating "lost" luggage.)

[WHBM]

I agree that Vancouver is a pleasant airport to use but there will be no metro rail link until the Winter OlympicsActually I noticed the new Skytrain line at Vancouver looks all complete at the airport (and a sight closer to the check-in desks than anything at Heathrow), and while I was there politicians were being taken for trial trips on the trains at the airport.

Anyway this is a Heathrow thread :)

[HZ123]

You can always use the Wetherspoons at the 'domestic' end. At the moment much of the time T5 has a steady flow of punters, I suppose the real test is when loads pick up and we experience a boom? Agree that the security area does not seem to have advanced much, the staff often seem curt and disinterested with the inevitable queues.

[Final 3 Greens]

Just experienced a departure at T5 for the first time.

I have to second the less than complimentary posts on this thread.

I queued for 20 minutes in the security 'fast track' and then followed the lead of a BA cabin crew member who said if we didn't change to non fast track, we'd never get through.

Added to the BA "customer service" last night, I doubt I'll be back any time soon.

I hate to say this, as a lot of people are going to be hurt, but the UK needs a hard recession to remind some companies of the concept of service delivery.

[L337]

What organisation provides security at T5?

[WHBM]

I hate to say this, as a lot of people are going to be hurt, but the UK needs a hard recession to remind some companies of the concept of service delivery.
Alas BAA, the principal company involved is Spanish.

[radeng]

> hate to say this, as a lot of people are going to be hurt, but the UK needs a hard recession to remind some companies of the concept of service delivery.<

I wonder if even a deep recession would make much difference. BAA have no idea of providing anything but minimum service at maximum profit, and so their response to fewer pax would probably be to reduce facilities further to make using the airports even more of traumatic experience.

[Final 3 Greens]

What organisation provides security at T5?

The relevant question is who is the prime contractor.

WHBM

You are right that Ferrovial is a Spanish company, but BAA plc is a UK company.

So is BA, which provides the 'fastrack' access to the customers.

Radeng

I do understand why you make your point, we'll see.

[L337]

So is BA, which provides the 'fastrack' access to the customers.

And it is the BAA that provide the staff to man that access.

Mr 3 greens, do you honestly believe that BA has any influence over the BAA? Do you honestly think that this issue has not been talked about with BAA over and over and over again? Do you think that BA deliberately want security to be an unmitigated pile of agro? Do you think that BA want the trains between terminals to be always broken, and overcrowded?

The list just goes on and on.

If BA could wave a wand and fix the BAA they would. If BA could wave a wand and make the BAA disappear into there own sunset they would.

As far as I can see the DfT and the BAA are determined to make the travel experience as uncomfortable as possible.

[Final 3 Greens]

Mr 3 greens, do you honestly believe that BA has any influence over the BAA?

You're having a laugh, right?

The major customer of Heathrow Airport Ltd doesn't have any influence?

[radeng]

3 greens,

I've been travelling through Heathrow on a regular basis for the last 30 years. It has got consistently worse since privatisation, with less and less maintenance - you can arrive on a Friday to see a moving walkway out of action and find it the same on Sunday. The T4 lavatories were a disgrace. Security lines at T5 are far too long, there aren't enough moving walkways on arrival - after all, arrivals don't pass shops - but I really don't see BAA having the will to do anything about the inconveniences to pax. Thay have a captive audience, and they DON'T CARE! So that's why I doubt a recession will make them improve.

[old,not bold]

I used T5 recently, for the 4th or 5th time since it opened. The bus ride we embarked on was the longest I have ever been on on any airport in the world. I know LHR fairly well as an ex-BAA manager, but after the first 10 minutes I was completely lost; well, it was night-time and raining!

Any use of buses with a new terminal, still nowhere near its capacity, is an abject admission of incompetence in planning and design and therefore comes as no surprise from BAA.

I thought for a while, as we drove round LHR, that perhaps there had been an aircraft change to one parked on another terminal. But no, we finished up boarding on a pan in what looked like an industrial estate, miles from anywhere.

And while we're on the subject of BAA; the Immigration waiting area at Gatwick South, last week, reminded me of a third world airport in a Police State in the Middle East in the 1970's, or perhaps of Domodedovo before they improved it. Overcrowded, unventilated, shored up by scaffolding and steel beams, too few staff, waiting times of 30 - 45 minutes, it was a disgrace of which I have never felt so deeply ashamed in my life, as a Brit surrounded by visitors and understanding their comments in several languages.

I have several pictures which are available to any journalist who wants them by pm. If the Spanish owners of BAA care so little about what they do they need to be exposed and hounded out of the country. BAA was never good, (hence the "ex") but since it was sold it has become the pits, useless, incompetent, run by morons, running the worst major airports in the entire world, bar none that I know of, and I know a good many.

PS I quit in disgust not long after the grocers took over BAA, in case anyone is thinking "OK, sacked and disgruntled".

[TopBunk]

Any use of buses with a new terminal, still nowhere near its capacity, is an abject admission of incompetence in planning and design and therefore comes as no surprise from BAA.

Correct, but T5 is already operating at design capacity. The busing situation will be improved when T5C is fully open.

[old,not bold]

Correct, but T5 is already operating at design capacity

If that's so, that really is an abject failure of planning! Are you sure?

[WHBM]

I wonder if there is another "brand new, world class" terminal anywhere else in the world where the principal tenant, who were to consolidate all their operations in one terminal (BA at T5) is unable to dock a significant type in their fleet (757) because the terminal designers (BAA) never took into account that the perfectly standard baggage facilities on the aircraft (bulk load) were incompatible with the terminal baggage system provided (containerised only, no bulk load). And so the aircraft, and the destinations they serve, have to operate from a different terminal (and soon be shunted on to a third one) separated by a half-hour transfer.

You couldn't make it up, could you ?

[Skipness One Echo]

Get real. There wasn't the room to do that in the time frame. Heathrow has always been constrained, they are doing the best under the circumstances, there will be a lot less bussing when T5C comes on line.

The 757 HAS been used at T5, but since it has been long known it was leaving the fleet, it's not an issue.

[Seat62K]

BAA is not owned by Ferrovial but by a consortium which includes Ferrovial. Canadian and other interests are also included. Nit-picking, perhaps, but necessary when one sees the "Spanish-owners" type of comment (possibly written to imply that things were hunky-dory when "we Brits" owned BAA, which, of course, is nonsense).

[old,not bold]

Amendment 200876/01/09

For "Spanish-owned" read "Spanish-controlled."

And I don't see anyone implying that things were hunky-dory before it was sold to Grupo Ferrovial and their henchmen.

It wasn't all that hunky-dory before that damned woman privatised it. But it soon got worse.

[Seat62K]

Heathrow's problems go back a long time. Post-Roskill and "The Four Site Saga", British governments should have bitten the bullet and constructed an airport on Maplin Sands. It's now too late (sorry, Boris). A third runway, if built, will not provide a solution - it's years away and Heathrow is full today. It's like terminal 5: a new facility which is actually too small to accommodate all the current flights of its sole tenant, let alone coping with future growth at BA. Says it all, really.
Leading business-persons have commented on the London region losing its economic pre-eminence. I wouldn't be surprised if this loss is now inevitable. This would have major consequences for the economic well-being of all of us, not just those who work in the travel industry.

[Globaliser]

In the last 6 months, I've flown from Heathrow on five trips which I thought were from the new Terminal 5. Certainly, it was from a new-looking building which seemed a lot better than the other bits of Heathrow. All my flights were on British Airways. And the trips all went smoothly and pleasantly.

But reading this thread, I see that clearly I've been sorely mistaken.

However, if I wasn't flying from T5, where was I?

[Shack37]

Ayes to the right 2, Noes to the left 36.
The noes have it, the noes have it............unlock.:E

[Final 3 Greens]

To be fair to Globalilser, as well as the other posters, you can only comment on what you experience.

The service delviery is probably inconsistent.

[Skipness One Echo]

Got nothing but praise for T5, is head and shoulders above the rest of the Heathrow experience. Noticeable that most of the people bitching on here live nowhere near London. As my local airport of choice again, I am well impressed.

[PAXboy]

SOE I do respect your experience and knowledge of EGLL but, in the two small visits I have made (one drop off, one collection) I found half a dozen points in which it failed and BIG points too. Not sure when I will pax through it as I only rarely travel for work these days.

I am not convinced. Certainly as the newest major terminal in the world, it ought to have been Number 1 without any effort and everyone is agreed that it is not. For it was not just the implementation that failed.

[L337]

T5 is, and was, and always will be, constrained by the site.

It is squeezed in between the M25 to the west, the two parallel runways to the north and south, and the rest of Heathrow to the east. That area constraint means that to create space, the architect has had to go vertical rather than horizontal.

The upshot of that is you get allot of elevators and escalators. It also means you have to have satellites, and so you need trains to get you to them.

Given those constraints it was never going to be some epic space like Beijing.

However it would be nice if the staffing at security was better, if the signs were less confusing, and the trains.. well more trains. It would be nice if the BAA did that.

[k3lvc]

The service delivery is inconsistent.


Too right it is - when it's good it's actually quite a pleasant and stress free place however when it's bad it seems the place falls apart. Almost as if two different companies run it :confused:

[13Alpha]

Got nothing but praise for T5, is head and shoulders above the rest of the Heathrow experience. Noticeable that most of the people bitching on here live nowhere near London. As my local airport of choice again, I am well impressed.


Well, a few things -

o Heathrow, as you regularly remind us, is supposed to BA's hub airport of choice, not just a provincial airport. And the volume of transfer passengers is one of the main reasons put forward for more expansion at Heathrow. So if T5 isn't serving non-Londoners well, that should be a concern (if not to you, at least to the owners). If you'd had to transfer to a domestic flight at T5 and found it little better time or convenience-wise than the schlep from T4 to T1, you'd be "bitching" too.
o T5 is indeed better than the rest of Heathrow, but that's not much of an achievement, is it ? Shouldn't Heathrow be measuring itself against the competition ?
o As for most of the detractors being not from London, here's the breakdown:

Newcastle
The Med
Zurich
Edinburgh
Bangkok
N Spain

London
Hertfordshire
SE England
London
Essex
Middlesex
uk
UK

In terms of proximity to London, I'd call that about 50/50 ?

13Alpha

[Skipness One Echo]

Heathrow has always struggled to connect passengers, even BA were split between T1 and T4. The massive opposition to Terminal 4 took years before that increase in capacity was permitted. People said the sky would fall in if a fourth terminal was built.
Then it was many more years before a fifth terminal was built on the site of a sewage works...... People said the world would end if a fifth terminal was built. It very nearly did as on day one it went badly wrong due to a major balls up by BA and BAA. However now it generally works really well and T5 to T5 Flight Connections are a major improvement.

My point is that these improvements are years late because of vocal opposition from a myriad of sources. No one is suggesting we dismantle T4, indeed the T4 experience is much improved and will get better when the redevelopments are complete. Also now it's up, no one is suggesting we dismantle T5. Again it has been a major improvement for passengers. IF LHR is permitted a third runway and a FIFTH terminal, remember T2 and T1 are going to become Heathrow East, then the passenger experience would improve still. I passionately believe that part of the deal should be that some of the new capacity MUST be used to reconnect LHR to some of the airports it no longer serves, like Inverness, Jersey, Guernsey and all.

[Final 3 Greens]

13 Alpha makes some good points.

T5 was mean to improve the experience for transfer passengers , not act purely as a local airport.

You will find that CDG terminal 2 is pretty convenient if arriving by taxi or private car, but much less so if interlining from say 2D to 2F.

The T4 experience is okay (when you get there) at the moment, because it is working way under capacity, even so BAA does not deliver a proper fast track service, diverting people from the non fast track queue to fast track meaning that the time in both is similar; if you have paid fr a premium ticket, this is simply ridiculous.

My experience of T5 so far is limited one arrival and one departure.

The arrival was okay, but the departure (at peak hours) was dreadful and on that basis, I cannot agree that T5 is satisfactory, even our tiny little airport in Malta does better in summer, when overloaded with tourists.

In my experience, Zurich is the gold standard.

Trains to the E gates leave every 3 minutes (and when the Swiss say 3 minutes they mean and deliver 3 minutes), security is efficient and pleasant, with proactive queue management and a fast track channel that is policed effectively and offers a fast track service.

In short, even when busy, the airport is pretty stress free and painless.

Why can't the UK deliver a similar experience?

I dread to think how much revenue has been lost to british airlines with the awful experience at the London airports.

[radeng]

You can't get away from the fact that T5 appears to have been done on the cheap. Otherwise, why so few moving walkways? T4 managed them.....

[PAXboy]

When they built the new LTN terminal in 1999 (I think) they also decided not to bother with moving walkways and only a few escalators. That site, too, was shoe-horned in to an old spot (to save/maximise money?) and it shows. They had more space to play with but did not use it, money I'm sure, but disappointing.

Since they built that terminal, with it's inadequate drop off/set down and expensive parking, congested access roads (there is only one single-carriageway road in and out to the terminal) it's small indicator displays (of the vertical flat panel type criticised at T5) I have said that the designers and managers of LTN had learnt too many tricks from BAA. What was a lovely regional airport is now an awkward one. Just like STN for that matter.

[SS2000]

T5 seems compressed - too many levels and not enough width (any regular travellers through T5B should have figured out it's easier to use the lifts). Though I believe this is due to planning restrictions.

But in contrast to other LHR terminals and a number of other airports the time through security is consistent, and it's easy enough to quickly navigate your way to the lounge / gates, even if you have to pass a few shops.

[Globaliser]

Certainly as the newest major terminal in the world, it ought to have been Number 1 without any effort ...There is no way that T5 was ever going to be "world's number one" (at least as far as passenger perception is concerned). T5 was always going to be seriously constrained and full of compromises; it could never have been anything else. The idea that "newest in the world" automatically means that it can easily be "best in the world" belongs in cloud cuckoo land. Given the constraints on T5, it would have been a impossibly Herculean task to make it "world's number one".

I, for one, am happy that they've settled for (and delivered) "pretty good all round", and "much better than the rest of Heathrow".Trains to the E gates leave every 3 minutes (and when the Swiss say 3 minutes they mean and deliver 3 minutes), security is efficient and pleasant, with proactive queue management and a fast track channel that is policed effectively and offers a fast track service.

In short, even when busy, the airport is pretty stress free and painless.A rather good description of the T5 departures process, in my experience.

[Final 3 Greens]

A rather good description of the T5 departures process, in my experience.

Well mine was over 20 mins in the fast track queue and then having to ditch the fast track queue and go into a nother.

Pathetic.

[WHBM]

T5 seems compressed - too many levels and not enough width (any regular travellers through T5B should have figured out it's easier to use the lifts). Though I believe this is due to planning restrictions.
Not so. Architectural solutions were constrained by high proportion of floorspace required to be revenue generating rather than used for passenger processing. Several articles in the construction/architectural press about this. Similar nonsenses in the approach road layout, with much expenditure on high-capacity free-flowing ramps then wasted by a few low-capacity roundabouts being inserted. If you have driven in/out you will understand what I mean.

Never mind. In the architecture world nowadays the various awards for architecture get handed out on completion of construction, before any operational issues become apparent. So no worries there.

[PAXboy]

WHBMNever mind. In the architecture world nowadays the various awards for architecture get handed out on completion of construction, before any operational issues become apparent. So no worries there.They certainly do. One building that I have to work in a couple of times a month is another simple example:

When the design was finalised, a 'blueprint' was proudly displayed in the old building. Myself and others pointed out several flaws that would make the daily use of the building irritating and that could have been changed if anyone had asked.

Yea, verily and so it came to pass. :ugh:
Just inside the door is a plaque for an award to the architect. I'm glad that I have never met him. :suspect:

[dubh12000]

Well mine was over 20 mins in the fast track queue and then having to ditch the fast track queue and go into a nother.

Pathetic.


Snap.

It's rubbish. Fast Track means nothing there.

[radeng]

Plus the stupid hand driers in the toilets. No way can you dry your face in them. Roller towels are too expensive for BAA, I suppose....