With major construction work going on and the green light given to a third runway, London Heathrow is getting set for its next half-century. Business Traveller reports.
This time last year the opening of London Heathrow’s newest terminal, T5, was widely reported to be a national disgrace. Fast forward 12 months and T5 has significantly improved the passenger experience at one of the world’s biggest airports. Perfect it is not, but few using it today would want to go back to the days of pre-T5. This year, Heathrow is set to change again, with one terminal – T2 – closing to make way for ambitious new plans. Steven Morgan, capital director at BAA, says: “The airport needs upgrading because some of the facilities have been here for half a century. The experience isn’t as good as it could be.” T2 is the oldest passenger terminal and BAA recognises that it can no longer meet the demands of a modern airport. The roof of the check-in area is only seven feet high and while the terminal was designed for up to 1.2 million passengers a year, it now squeezes nearly nine million through annually. Later this year, T2 will close and then be demolished. In its place will be the first phase of the new £2 billion Heathrow East development, which will eventually replace both T2 and T1. The challenge of completing all of this construction on such a small site while keeping the airport operating is a daunting one. “It’s like building a boat in a bottle,” Morgan says. “All the things we are trying to do are on brown-field sites. T5 was on a green-field site, so it was easier to build. We will also need to connect old parts to new parts. We want to hide as much of the construction activity as possible so people don’t have to look at it.” Heathrow East has been designed to be light and spacious, and plans include reducing water consumption, increasing waste recycling and cutting carbon dioxide emissions by 40 per cent compared with that created by T1 and 2. There will also be more space for security. BAA hopes to open it in time for the 2012 London Olympics. The new building will not solve the airport’s fundamental lack of space, however. Heathrow East will accommodate about 30 million passengers a year, which is less than the 35 million combined throughput of T1 and 2. There will be no increase in flights and BAA is not looking to increase the amount of car parking. A third runway is the key to future Heathrow expansion, and in January the government announced its approval for the plans. Also in the pipeline is Heathrow Airtrack, a proposed new rail link between T5 and the existing rail network to the south and west, including Reading, Guildford and London Waterloo. Now that most of BA’s flights operate out of T5, the other airlines are grouped together by alliance to reduce transfer times, but the movements are ongoing – of the 13 steps needed, seven are complete. Oneworld will operate from T3 and T5, Skyteam from T4, and Star Alliance from T1 and subsequently Heathrow East (the timings for all these moves have not been announced). The initial refurbishment of Terminal 3 is largely complete, with a further £1 billion upgrade taking place over the next ten years. T4 will also see extensive changes. “It was designed to ’80s standards and décor and is now out of date,” Morgan says. “We will be raising the ceilings and putting in new equipment. We’re also adding two new stands for the A380.” Work has started on a baggage system that will connect to all terminals. T5C, a new satellite building at the terminal that will add 51,000 sqm of floor space, is also under way. If the work stays on track, by 2012 the old parts of the airport should look completely different, Morgan reports. “When you enter any of our terminals you are going to think, ‘This must be Heathrow,’” he says. “It will be a comfortable, stress-free environment. T5 gave us an opportunity, and without it we would not have had a chance.” The full transformation will not be complete until at least 2020, but for now Business Traveller brings you news from each of the terminals and what you can expect the next time you’re jetting out.