Volunteers prepare to try out Heathrow’s new terminal

A team of 15,000 volunteers will soon be the first to walk the halls of London Heathrow’s Terminal 5 (T5). This will occur prior to its scheduled opening to the public in March 2008. The testing of T5 will start next week and continue for the following six months. Volunteers will spend over six hours at a time at T5, in simulations intended to test the new terminal’s functionality and effectiveness. For their efforts, all volunteers will be provided with a complimentary lunch, as well as small gifts.

Construction on T5 was completed last week, and the new facilities have already been handed over to the companies that will oversee the running of this terminal, namely BAA, Heathrow’s operator, as well as British Airways, which will move its flights to T5 in 2008. One of the reasons that both BAA and BA are testing the terminal and taking preparations so seriously is to avoid a repeat of the chaos that plagued Heathrow for much of the summer. A large proportion of luggage was lost and delays were common during the peak season, all of which darkened Heathrow’s image in the eyes of many travelers.

The testing at T5 will actually involve volunteers preparing for imaginary flights. All activities related to departure will be simulated in order to recreate the environment that one would expect at a major airport. At any given time, more than 2,250 volunteer “passengers” may be present to try out the airport. The testing, however, will start off on a smaller scale at the end of September, when about 150 volunteers will be allowed to visit T5 and will be shown the facilities. BA’s CEO, Willie Walsh, is convinced that once the airline transfers operations to T5, there will be shorter line-ups, better service and less of a problem with lost baggage than is currently experienced by the carrier.

www.baa.com