BA to move long-haul flights to Terminal 5
Friday, 09 May 2008 11:54
British Airways has announced it will begin moving its long-haul flight operations into Terminal 5 at London's Heathrow airport on June 5th.
The move was originally planned to start on April 30th but the chaos surrounding the opening of the new terminal building forced the airline to postpone the transfer.
"We are making this decision in the interests of customers," claimed BA chief executive Willie Walsh in a joint statement with BAA.
"Though Terminal 5 is now working well, we need to have confidence that good service can be maintained when the terminal is handling larger numbers of customers," he added.
BA has been operating a normal flight schedule from Terminal 5 since Tuesday, six weeks after the disastrous opening on March 27th.
Long-haul flights affected by the planned move will total around 60 departures and 60 arrivals per day.
BA has said it will contact customers who will fly from Terminal 4 rather than Terminal 5 as a result of the postponement.
Some long-haul flights have already transferred to Terminal 5, including flights to Hong Kong, Johannesburg, Los Angeles, Miami, San Francisco, Tokyo and Vancouver.
BAA chairman Sir Nigel Rudd this week announced an internal review of the Terminal 5 launch will be conducted within the next two months.