British Airways Moves to Terminal 5

Britain’s largest airline, British Airways has confirmed they will begin to move long-haul flights to Heathrow’s new and controversial Terminal 5 on June 5. The first phase of moves will see eight long-haul destinations switched from Terminal 4 to which is approximately a quarter of Terminal 4’s schedule.

The move was delayed from April 30 due to severe problems at the new £4.3bn terminal.
BA director, Willie Walsh insisted T5 is now working well. “As we announced on 11 April, we will move our Terminal 4 long-haul programme into Terminal 5 in phases and we have made this decision in the interests of customers, who remain our priority at all times.”

BA Flights scheduled to be transferred include services to and from New York’s JFK airport. Other destinations that will also have flights moved include; Abuja, Bangalore, Beijing, Cairo, Cape Town, Lagos and Phoenix.

The decision to transfer the flights was made jointly by BA and Heathrow airport operator BAA.
“We continue to work together intensively to complete the migration of the remaining long-haul services as soon as is practicable,” said Colin Matthews, BAA chief executive. Both firms have been heavily criticized for the chaotic opening of Terminal 5, with many cancelled flights and luggage lost.

Rival carriers such as Air France One will move into Terminal 4 once BA makes its move. Several top BA executives have left the airline company amid the controversy of the terminal change, but Walsh has said he has no intention of resigning.

www.britishairways.com