Heathrow T5

[laffer]

Flying into T5 this evening from STR on BA we ended up parking at a stand some distance from the terminal itself. We had to get out of the plane on to a bus (jammed in) and transported to the T5.

I was shocked at this. BA spent close to a billion pounds on T5 and they cannot house all of their incoming and outgoing aircraft at the terminal and instead have to park them miles away and use buses as transport.

Is it a legitimate critcism or have BA botched the T5 design by needing to bus so many people out to their planes.

P.S Its the second time its happened. The first was a flight to PHL.

 

[moa999]

BA T5 will continue to operate with remote gates (ie buses) until T5C is completed (sometime in 2010)

At the moment T5 is actually two terminals - T5 the main terminal and T5B (satellite, connected by an undeground rail - think HKG or MAD)

 

[Bundy Bear]

Lucky you got to T5 after getting off a bus, on my recent flight from Helsinki we got dropped off at T1.

Flights to and from Dallas DFW is via bus and seems like there is a bunch of planes out by themselves; it seemed like it was like near Terminal 4.

T5 is a very ambitious project by BA trying to house everything in one terminal; good for transferring passengers.

 

[Blue Peter]

Flew in from STR back in June. Had the same experience and this was BEFORE they had moved all the fights in. Although it's a pain getting onto a bus (especially if it is cold, dark and wet) the time taken to get land side can be less than a long walk / escalator / transit train ride from a remote gate in T5B. However, there is still a fair walk once you are deposited at the door of T5. Also the journey by bus seemed to go all over the place.
Still T1 was little better and the facilities in T5 when departing are, at last, up to a decent standard.

 

[dot]

I don't know the exact numbers, but my brother in law (who is a FO with BA) tells me that when all flights have moved to T5, BA will have nearly 20% less gates than they did prior to the opening of T5. That means remote boarding with buses is going to have to be a fact of life for some flights on BA. He was dumbfounded when he realised.

You can see the remote and main terminal easily in this photo I took on my last time through LHR.

On this photo, it does look like there is room for a second remote terminal (to the right of the existing remote terminal) as part of the T5 complex. According to http://www.buildings.mottmac.com/projects/?id=102327&mode=type,

The next phase
Work is still advancing on Terminal 5 phase two, which includes design and construction of a second satellite building and 13 new aircraft stands as well as an expansion of the baggage and tracked-transit-system housed in tunnels. The satellite building has four levels above ground and three levels of basements up to 18m below ground. We’ve been involved since the feasibility stage, with responsibilities including the design of deep basements for the satellite building and a number of cut-and-cover tunnels.

Stage one of phase two, which has been completed, includes all the works below ground as well as the apron slab and three new aircraft stands, while stage two will deliver the remaining aircraft stands and above ground building works for live operation in March 2011. By this stage we will have delivered 28 fully integrated design packages and a fully co-ordinated 3-D model of the structure. The design and construction process for phase 2 has created some unique challenges, requiring careful planning, co-ordination and design integration.

I would expect that a second remote terminal will reduce the need to bus pax to and from aircraft.

 

[Blue Peter]

I hadn't heard the 20% figure, but was aware that there were insufficient gates for all of BA's needs. In the past, though, I am sure I have arrived at a T3 stand, but had to be bussed to T1. Perhaps it all comes together if you pool the gates for BA, QF and IB

 

[serfty]

I wonder if that 20% counts bus gates. Our ORD-LHR flight in June used T4 bus gates.

 

[dot]

I wonder if that 20% counts bus gates. Our ORD-LHR flight in June used T4 bus gates.

Nope - it was a straight comparison aerobridge gates old (multiple terminals) vs T5 aerobridge gates. It should also be noted that prior to T5, those gates at other terminals (T1, T4 and T3(?)) were shared with other airlines as well - it's not as if BA had 100% exclusive access to every one of those gates... As I think about it now, it may not be as bad as I originally thought and may actually represent a net gain in gate availability in aerobridge/gate access. Sorry if I raised the blood pressure un-necessarily :shock:

 

[simongr]

Sorry if I raised the blood pressure un-necessarily :shock:

DOn't worry. Just going through T5 raises the blood pressure sufficiently... Awful awful shopping mall

 

[Evan]

dot, yes when you think about it does make more sense.
I like T5 but last time on arrival i also had a bus a shame really but atleast a short bus trip unlike the ones to other terminals.
E

 

[NM]

The whole T5 migration is going to take several years. Its a game of musical chairs for that period. As has been stated, T5 is not complete yet, but in order for the required renovations of other terminals and the shuffle of airlines between those terminals, BA has to move most of its flights out of T1 and T4. So the only viable option for BA at T5 is to use remote stands and b*ses until the construction of T5C is completed.

 

[Dave Noble]

Personally I don't mind bus transfers to immigration in LHR; better than some of the long walks at LHR to get to immigration... better still is when can avoid LHR completely and fly into LGW or LCY

Dave

 

[Flashback]

Personally I don't mind bus transfers to immigration in LHR; better than some of the long walks at LHR to get to immigration... better still is when can avoid LHR completely and fly into LGW or LCY

Dave

Ummah... you said the B word!