Heathrow Airport Blog

Terminal Five chaos avoidable

2008-11-12T16:07:36Z

The chaos that blighted the opening of Heathrow’s Terminal Five, which cost over four billion pounds to construct, could have been avoided, according to a report released this week by a committee of MPs. British Airways and BAA, the operator of the airport, have been heavily criticised in the report, for causing a national embarrassment.

Their “serious failings” have been detailed in a parliamentary transport committee document which was drawn up in order to explain the reasons why the opening of the new terminal proved to be such a disaster. There were numerous problems with the opening of the terminal, including a serious failure with the baggage system. Over twenty thousand bags were left stranded as a result of the inefficient system.

MPs believe that the opening of the terminal in March of this year should have been “an occasion of national pride” but instead, it became a debacle which embarrassed the entire nation.

British Airways has accepted that inadequate and insufficient training led to the problems during the first few weeks of the terminal’s operation. The airline has revealed that testing of important IT systems was unexpectedly delayed until the end of October 2007 and this affected the ability of its staff to become familiar with the systems. British Airways also stated that they should have “delayed the move” in order to ensure that staff and systems were ready for the opening.

The general consensus at the moment is that Terminal Five has put its initial problems firmly behind it. British Airways believes that the terminal now provides the “best customer experience Heathrow has known” for several years. Furthermore, the airline holds frequent meetings with BAA in order to review the airport’s performance.

Aviation industry criticial of Tories' plans to scrap third runway for Heathrow

2008-10-03T12:21:04Z

David Cameron's plans to scrap the proposed third runway at Heathrow and invest instead in high-speed rail links have been blasted by the aviation industry, business groups, and political opponents. Most outspoken of all are BA, who have accused the Conservative party of putting the country’s economy at risk and ignoring the views of the business community by putting the nation’s air links “in a strait jacket”.

The Tories have proposed a high-speed rail link from Heathrow to Birmingham, Leeds, and Manchester but BA has been quick to point out that passengers from these cities flying to and from Heathrow account for a mere 3% of air traffic.

BAA, which owns Heathrow, has also expressed its disappointment over the Tories’ plans, saying that the proposed rail link would do nothing to ease the over-crowding at the airport. Numerous business organisations are in agreement with BAA but the green lobby is predictably in favour of a shift towards investment in rail transport. If the Tories win the next election, construction of the new line would start in 2015 and would last twelve years costing £15.6 billion, with private funding accounting for another £4.4 billion.

The Liberal Democrats are all in favour of the Tories’ proposals but have said that it remains to be seen whether the plan is just another of David Cameron’s “empty promises”. Ruth Kelly, the departing transport secretary, has described the proposals as being “politically opportunistic, economically illiterate and hugely damaging to Britain's national interests". The Scottish National Party meanwhile criticises the fact that the plans leave Scotland out of the equation.

Does Heathrow need a third runway to cope with the aviation crisis?

2008-09-25T16:20:42Z

When an industry is in trouble, is it the best move to open doors or to close them? Does it make sense for a financially struggling football team to buy new expensive players in the hope that they generate more money somehow? Does it make sense for Heathrow to be thinking about building the long debated and now infamous third runway?

The dramatic rise in fuel prices means that airlines have been stretched to their limits. Some of the smaller companies have had to give in and hang up their boots, XL being the latest. The fuel price is the biggest blow to an airline, but, according to a report by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) this month, a large proportion of that fuel could and should be reduced if planes didn’t have to circle over the airports waiting for a runway to become available.

Heathrow might be the busiest international airport in the world, but its two runways are being pushed to their limits. Advice has been generated by the management consultants Mott MacDonald and their director of Aviation Strategy, Laurence Price, made it pretty clear that building a new runway at Heathrow would help the airlines cut down on the amount of fuel they have to pump into their planes. At the moment airlines are forking out roughly 40% of their costs on fuel alone. Is it time to start speculating to accumulate?

Boris plans new airport in the Thames

2008-09-25T16:04:48Z

London Mayor, Boris Johnson, has long been an outspoken critic of both Gatwick and Heathrow, saying that the potential success of the 2012 Olympics could well be jeopardised by the inefficiencies of the capital’s airports.

He has now come up with the idea of a phased closing down of Heathrow (and possibly Gatwick too) if his plans come to fruition for a replacement airport in the Thames estuary, probably on a man-made island two miles north of the Isle of Sheppey. The water is only ten to thirteen feet deep there and the island for the airport could be constructed using landfill. With no neighbours to consider, the airport could operate 24 hours a day and expansion to six runways from the four initially planned would not be a problem either.

High speed rail links would whisk passengers to and from central London in around 35 minutes and a rail connection to the Channel Tunnel would mean that the Continent was also easily accessible, with an estimated journey time to Brussels of just an hour and a half.

Boris Johnson takes his inspiration in part from Chek Lap Kok airport in Hong Kong, which was built on reclaimed land and opened in 1998 after a $20 billion building programme. It operates 24 hours a day and has won various awards for being the best airport.

Johnson thinks that his plan could be the answer to the heavy congestion at Heathrow, which was recently described by one former airline chief as a “third world airport... a national disgrace”. Heathrow would in turn become a British Silicone Valley with high-tech business parks and affordable housing.

Accusations over T5 advertising campaign

2008-08-27T14:06:35Z

The travelling public will have to make their own minds up – have BA been caught trying to dupe passengers with their advertising campaign, or was it an honest human error?

Earlier this month, The Sunday Times brought to light an inaccuracy in the BA Terminal 5 advertising campaign which claimed on its website that 90% of its flights “were taking off within fifteen minutes of its scheduled time”.

Not so said critics, pointing out that BA were actually talking about the time planes left the terminal (a Civil Aviation Authority convention) and not when they actually took off. Given the high incidence of delays at Heathrow as planes taxi for up to half an hour waiting for a slot, the wording of the advert was misleading at best. BA blame a human error on the part of their marketing staff and advertising agency, Bartle Bogle Hegarty.

BA are spending £6 million in an attempt to persuade the public that T5 is now working well, despite its rocky start this March when chaos reigned, with flights cancelled, baggage lost and passengers enduring a thoroughly miserable experience. After the Sunday Times made its revelation, the wording was quickly changed to: “Yesterday at T5 90% of flights left on time”. The website aims to provide passengers with up-to-date statistics on delays and arrivals and also average check-in times.

Rivals Virgin Atlantic were quick to step into the fray, saying that BA avoid the evening peak period when calculating the average check-in time. They are expected to complain to the Advertising Standards Authority.

Fears over mixed mode runways after near miss at Heathrow

2008-08-20T14:16:57Z

Concerns have been raised over mixed-mode runways after a close shave at Heathrow airport at the end of last month. At the moment Heathrow operates segregated alternated runways, meaning that arrivals use one runway and departures use another, with the usage being switched round at regular intervals to share out the noise problem of arrivals between local communities. Mixed-mode runways allow for runways to be used for a mixture of arrivals and departures. This would mean a potential increase of 15% capacity or an extra 60,000 flights a year.

On July 28th, a BA plane leaving the southern runway came close to collision with a Virgin flight taking off for New York from the northern runway. The Virgin flight did not in fact land but carried on climbing, meaning that the pilot of the BA flight had to take evasive action as the other plane cut across his path, leaving a gap of only 20 seconds.

Tom Beaton of Isleworth in Middlesex, who witnessed the manoeuvre - technically termed a “go around” - is convinced that disaster was imminent and sees this as a clear indication of how dangerously crowded the airspace around the airport is. He feels that the desire for profit has meant that people’s normal “human and moral judgments” have “deserted them”. If mixed-mode runways were to be introduced at Heathrow, the economic benefits would be worth an annual £2.5 billion.

As well as safety fears, there are grave concerns that local residents would be offered no break at all from the noise of arrivals, complaints about which vastly outweigh grievances over planes taking off. Campaigners say that the respite from the noise is the only thing which keeps residents sane.