United Kingdom | Saturday, 30 August 2008
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T5 proving popular says BA

By Mark Roberts
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Posted 04 July 2008 @ 11:33 am GMT

British Airways (BA) said on Friday that its new Terminal 5 at Heathrow airport was proving popular with customers, despite a chaotic opening earlier in March.

Terminal 5
The check-in hall in the new Terminal 5 building is seen at London's Heathrow Airport March 14, 2008. REUTERS/Alessia Pierdomenico

Friday marks the 100th day since the opening of T5, an opening which saw flight cancellations and thousands of bags lost. Since then BA has said that almost five million customers have travelled through the terminal on over 38,000 flights.

BA said, "The new £4.3 billion terminal at Heathrow is seeing significant gains in improved punctuality and baggage performance."

Despite the initial trouble the airline has said that the response from customers to Terminal 5 is generally positive.

Willie Walsh, Chief Executive of BA, said, "Every day I get emails, letters or comments from customers telling me how much they enjoy using the terminal.

"When the terminal opened, it was handling around 40,000 customers a day. As the summer holidays approach, passenger numbers are expected to rise from an average 57,000 a day at present to more than 65,000 a day.

"We have worked tirelessly to improve every aspect of our operational performance and our customers are seeing the benefits."

He added, "We know there is scope for further improvement and we are absolutely committed to achieving it. But we have made a very encouraging start to life in our new home."

BA said it was looking to create a dedicated check-in area for business class customers and added that it would be opening an additional business class lounge in Terminal 5 "B".

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