Heathrow is never far from the news in London. As the city’s largest and busiest airport it struggles to cope with a growing volume of air travelers. Headlines abound on cancelled flights, stranded passengers and lost luggage. Rarely is the news positive for Europe’s busiest airport. In fact, good news these days, still sounds rather bad. Last week, BAA, the airport’s operator said that Heathrow had come through the hectic summer travel season with its lowest level of disruption in five years.
This was probably little comfort to the one in 35 British Airways passengers who luggage was lost between April and June. At one point the backlog of lost luggage became so bad the airline began shipping lost luggage to a processing facility in Milan. It claimed this facility would reunite passengers and luggage faster than facilities at Heathrow. At the time I recall seeing literally thousands of bags piled on the tarmac . Not a sight you really want to see as you wait to board your flight.
It's hardly surprisingly to learn that, in July, the Association of European Airlines (AEA) called British Airways the worst performing of all Europe’s major airlines. The association said that the airline's passengers are likely to be delayed more than any other. It also forecast that British Airways will lose a record 1.3 million bags this year. I believe them. I rarely arrive at Heathrow on schedule and have lost my luggage at least once in the last 18 months. Check-in is an equal nightmare. I am forever fighting my way through crowds surging in the opposite direction, or being jostled by some errant trolley.
The problem is obvious. Over the years four separate terminals have been built at Heathrow, collectively designed to process 45 million passengers a year. However, as of August, the airport had handled 67.2 million passengers in the previous 12 months. In August a staggering 6.4 million passengers used Heathrow, a record for the month. By comparison, in July, Hong Kong airport handled 4.39 million passengers and Frankfurt, a mere 5.2 million.
Given this situation British Airways admits that there’s little it can do to improve service until the new Terminal 5 opens next March. This new building will handle an additional 30 million passengers a year, increasing Heathrow’s peak capacity to 90 million passengers. Approval has also been granted for construction to begin in 2008 on a building that replaces the airport’s two oldest terminal buildings. The new building, Heathrow East, will process 30 million passengers a year. This is the same volume as the structures it replaces, but will offer far greater comfort. It's scheduled to open in time for the London Olympics in 2012.
I cannot wait for these two buildings to open. Heathrow is by far the most inadequate airport complex I regularly negotiate. I was reminded how horrible the experience was last week when I returned from a trip to Madrid. Rather than arriving at Heathrow, I caught a flight into London City Airport, a small commuter airport on the edge of the London Docklands. The transfer from airport to tube was seamless and easy, without a single crowd to jostle me. It took less than an hour from disembarking to arrival on the doorstep of home. I’ll definitely be using London City airport again!
This was probably little comfort to the one in 35 British Airways passengers who luggage was lost between April and June. At one point the backlog of lost luggage became so bad the airline began shipping lost luggage to a processing facility in Milan. It claimed this facility would reunite passengers and luggage faster than facilities at Heathrow. At the time I recall seeing literally thousands of bags piled on the tarmac . Not a sight you really want to see as you wait to board your flight.
It's hardly surprisingly to learn that, in July, the Association of European Airlines (AEA) called British Airways the worst performing of all Europe’s major airlines. The association said that the airline's passengers are likely to be delayed more than any other. It also forecast that British Airways will lose a record 1.3 million bags this year. I believe them. I rarely arrive at Heathrow on schedule and have lost my luggage at least once in the last 18 months. Check-in is an equal nightmare. I am forever fighting my way through crowds surging in the opposite direction, or being jostled by some errant trolley.
The problem is obvious. Over the years four separate terminals have been built at Heathrow, collectively designed to process 45 million passengers a year. However, as of August, the airport had handled 67.2 million passengers in the previous 12 months. In August a staggering 6.4 million passengers used Heathrow, a record for the month. By comparison, in July, Hong Kong airport handled 4.39 million passengers and Frankfurt, a mere 5.2 million.
Given this situation British Airways admits that there’s little it can do to improve service until the new Terminal 5 opens next March. This new building will handle an additional 30 million passengers a year, increasing Heathrow’s peak capacity to 90 million passengers. Approval has also been granted for construction to begin in 2008 on a building that replaces the airport’s two oldest terminal buildings. The new building, Heathrow East, will process 30 million passengers a year. This is the same volume as the structures it replaces, but will offer far greater comfort. It's scheduled to open in time for the London Olympics in 2012.
I cannot wait for these two buildings to open. Heathrow is by far the most inadequate airport complex I regularly negotiate. I was reminded how horrible the experience was last week when I returned from a trip to Madrid. Rather than arriving at Heathrow, I caught a flight into London City Airport, a small commuter airport on the edge of the London Docklands. The transfer from airport to tube was seamless and easy, without a single crowd to jostle me. It took less than an hour from disembarking to arrival on the doorstep of home. I’ll definitely be using London City airport again!
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