Heathrow
Back to Forum- This topic has 104 replies, 26 voices, and was last updated 8 Feb 2012
at 09:38 by MartynSinclair.
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MartynSinclairParticipant“Not really a case of if …but ..when….can be only a matter of time”
Would have agreed with your above statement Terry, but seeing we are dealing with a Government that cant even control 9 – 13 year olds unless the Government cover the streets with 16,000 police, water canons and rubber bullets, I doubt very much that there is a cat in hells chance of 3rd runway being approved at Heathrow.
In fact I am suprised that those little car things on the rails between T5 and the car park have managed to get going!!!!!!!!
12 Aug 2011
at 18:18
transtraxmanParticipantA comment surely must be made about this article on BT
“Heathrow mulls temporary Olympics terminal”
http://www.businesstraveller.com/news/heathrow-mulls-temporary-olympics-terminal
With Heathrow bursting at the seems how can any more passengers be put through the airport? More flights will probably not be squeezed in as there are no slots and no stands(unless off terminal parking with bussing is used). I can see that business bums will be replaced by athletic bums and the only way for the airlines to satisfy the demand will be to upgrade to bigger aircraft. That will mean more overcrowding in the summer period and make life especially uncomfortable for the business traveller.
As the article emphasises, the biggest problem will be the quantity of baggage and the bulkiness of these less usual articles which will be diificult to transport in the baggage distribution system. Are we looking at a fiasco here similar to T5´s opening days?
Let us hope that BAA gets it right and shows how it can manage a major airport at a major event.
On the other hand I would have thought that a designated airport for the games would be one less used and with the potential to fill extra demand. With Heathrow and Gatwick showing growth while Stansted losing passengers I think that question answers itself. It is also more convenient for the main games site and Olympic village. All that needs to be done is route (and stop) Stansted Express trains through Stratford. This would lessen the load in central London.
I hope the authorities are working hard at all these problems and showing imagination. Otherwise gridlock threatens which we certainly do not want for the image of the country.
13 Aug 2011
at 10:58
Age_of_ReasonParticipantThose who predict ‘disaster’ are usually those with a vested interest in that disaster?
The point of the Olympics and Airport Traffic is that to an airport ‘passenger traffic’ IS Business. If the City of London is worried about ‘disruption to busness traffic’ they mean THEIR business, and they should have thought about the disruption before they pushed the govt into a £10bn spend in London. A 10bn spend in MAnchester, centrally positioned for UKplc to benefit would have been the logical outcome.
But the Bankers, as always, got their investments and now the Intrastructure Managers must to deliver the benefits. As UKplc is not a ‘centrlised command economy’ it must operate by conventional capitalist methods, which means there will be no planning, no forward pre-investment, just response to proven demand (ie late response to bottlenecks andn disruption). So the Olympics will muddle through, the disruption will be recast as ‘major success, pull-together spirit’ and London will be left with underused, nationally funded infrastructure which will atract more business to the over-invested SouthEast. The north-south and east-west divide will deepen and we’ll muddle on mediocrely as before, slowly declining in world markets.
2 Feb 2012
at 08:27
TerryMcManus24ParticipantNow that BAA have been told to flog off Stansted it would not be a bad idea for who ever is running the games to step in a make it Stansted the offical “London Olympic Airport”
For that couple of weeks all the expected millions ..?? of passengers could be flown straight there and with say FREE train Tics.Oyster cards could be at Stratford in no time….and with NO distruption at Heathrow….or for the rest of London….easy
2 Feb 2012
at 12:30
AdrianHenryAsiaParticipantI have no desire for it to be a disaster – I am going on previous performance of BAA!
4 Feb 2012
at 13:15
Age_of_ReasonParticipant🙂
Well … you’re in good company and not short of evidence. The Bidders for EDI are all indicating major discomfort with the quality of the passenger infrastructure, and the need to upgrade the BAA mess. (At huge costa, of course). But then they would, wouldn’t they? And will they be held to investment promises once the asset is transferred?Bet they don’t continue charging £1 to use the pavement and kerbs?
4 Feb 2012
at 13:29
Binman62ParticipantCareful what you wish for………… Rumour is that some very draconian limits to LHR operation being planned for Sunday 5th Feb. it seems that even now and after the farce of December 2010,BAA still cannot cope with some snow. . Looking at BA.com gives absolutely no indication of cancellations as of 1500 today however but there are suspiciously long delays to very early arrivals from a number of carriers.
My understanding is that no arrivals being allowed before 0600 on Sunday and this appears to be supported by info on airlines web sites showing flights from Singapore to LHR all being delayed in Singapore to arrive after 6 am in LHR.One can only suspect that significant cancellations of short haul will follow as bunching arrivals in this way is simply not manageable at LHR.
It would not be a surprise to find later today that a third of flights, long and short haul, will have been cancelled, delayed or diverted as BAmajors to keep LHR open. It will be too much snow, the wrong kind of snow,or it fell at the worst possible time list of excuses on Sunday along with trumpeting of success…..forgetting to mention the disruption to thousands of passengers that will run for days.4 Feb 2012
at 15:14
Tete_de_cuveeParticipantUnsure if it is trouble making or fact, however have heard some of the state-of-the-art snow ploughs purchased by LHR following the last debacle have not been maintained in the off-season and are not currently operable.
I hope there is no veracity in the rumour.
4 Feb 2012
at 15:29
LPPSKrisflyerParticipantI’m just about to leave the lounge in SIN for SQ322 to LHR, departure has been delayed by 30 mins but we are still expected to arrive on time at 05.55 at least according to the staff here. We’ll see what happens, there are worse places to be stuck than in an SQ suite!
4 Feb 2012
at 15:37 -
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