It has been touted as the answer to delays air travellers have been coping with at Heathrow but the chaotic start of business at the airport’s cavernous new Terminal 5 bodes ill for an end to passenger misery.
But is Heathrow the worst? In the 2007 Skytrax World Airport Awards no British airport made the top 10, which instead included Hong Kong, Munich and Madrid airports.
Have you been affected by the delays at T5? What are your experiences of travelling from Heathrow and other British airports and how could they be improved?
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10 comments so far
Once again Britain has shown the world how not to do something correctly. This kind of poor management shows the sad state that we have come to as “A World Leader”? We need to overhaul our management techniques and move forward and cut out all the spin. A disappointed British Citizen.
- Posted by Paul Hancockwonder which low level manager will take the fall for this pnr - he must be feeling a little apprehensive this morning….
- Posted by alchemyiamThe fact that T5 looks like an air freight warehouse with absolutely no vestige of architectural flair says everything about the people who commissioned it.
The problems there stem from the same management attitude which tolerates the bleak, draughty and noisy bare brick tunnel that is the coach pick-up point at T4 Arrivals, which in my experience of international airports is the most shaming first sight of a supposedly advanced country that a visitor could possibly experience.
Just as they couldn’t be bothered to make the T4 tunnel presentable with a few mosaic tiles, draught deflectors and sound-absorbing panels, so they couldn’t be bothered to make sure that the systems at T5 would work properly on the day. There will be no improvement until the BAA and BA monopolies at London’s airports are broken up and replaced with independent companies which have to compete with each other to attract passengers.
- Posted by Mike TWhen will BAA wake up to the fact that most passengers want to check in and get on their plane as quickly as possible.
- Posted by roger kendrickWorks of art on the wall and exclusive boutiqes don’t make for an efficient terminal.
The past two days have proved that beyond doubt !!
Following on from the last post; when will BAA get it in their head that for an airport to work, they need to man the security searches properly. Not just for passengers, but for staff too! Any fool can tell you that opening one search lane at a peak time will cause problems. in the case of yesterday, staff waiting in a queue for over an hour to report to work!
- Posted by kira OI find it hard to understand that the Germans can move a complete airport in one night (Münich a couple of years ago) and things work, and at Heathrow they cant even open a new terminal.
- Posted by Niall DavisSimply no respect for people !
- Posted by Pierreand in the end they will actually make a profit because people have been eating, drinking and shop till you drop cause there is nothing else to do while you waste your weekend away. Wonder if they actually tried their baggage system out and did they try to instruct any of their staff on how to use it ?
- Posted by Peter DalzellI bypass Heathrow for years now and will continue to do so.
- Posted by Harry SchneiderHeathrow has the charm of an old grey and dusty train station from the 50s.
- Posted by Alice Kehoe