When you travel anyplace,
do you have a “Wow” factor built into your journey? I mean if you
see some outstanding tourist attraction or whatever, that literally
takes your breath away, do you say “Wow, that’s fantastic.” I ask
the question because I recently took an up close and very personal
tour of British Airways Terminal Five (T5) at London/Heathrow and
even though I was born in London and, as a Brit am supposed to be
reserved and have a stiff upper lip, my Wow factor went ballistic
on seeing BA’s T5. In two words, it’s superb.
The official opening is March 27th, and when I saw it the day
was (unusual for London) gloriously filled with sunshine, and as we
drove up to the building itself, the entrance reminded me of Denver
Airport’s futuristic, and billowing clouds type structure. In
short, T5 greets the passenger with a sort of wave form covered
entrance that made me think of clouds and yes, even tranquility.
When you actually enter T5, you’re greeted by a huge, and I do mean
huge, series of gigantic steel beams soaring skywards, and an
almost endless collection of glass walls and ceilings, that make
you stop - at least for a moment or two - and utter your series of
Wows. I’ve been to many of the world’s great airports (another
gorgeous airport that instantly comes to mind, is the truly
impressive airport at Oporto, in Portugal) and BA’s T5 is right up
there with the winners in the “Best of” category. Total cost of the
project is approximately eight and a half billion dollars, and has
been designed to handle 30 million BA customers a year.
Anyone who’s had to undergo the “trials and tribulations” of
flying into or through Heathrow (LHR) knows (as I’ve found over the
past 25 or so years) that it not only seems to be in a constant
state of building and confusion, but that it‘s a real hassle to
come in from say Los Angeles on a BA flight, and then (as an
example) you’re going to fly BA to Ireland, you’ve got to board a
bus for what seems like an endless journey into British history, to
get to your next terminal for a domestic BA flight. The beauty, in
every sense of the word about T5, is that 90% of BA’s flights will
move from Terminals 1, 3 and 4, into the stunning T5, with the
remaining 10% into T3. Travel agents wondering about which those
other destinations are, should know that flights going to
Barcelona, Madrid, Lisbon, Nice and Helsinki, that usually departed
T1 will, effective September 17th, 2008, be in T3. In early 2009,
flights to Singapore, Bangkok and Sydney, will move from T4 to
T3.
If the future of self service air travel is here today, and
seeing and talking to a live human being is something that happened
in another century (!), the one fact that stunned me, was that as
soon as I entered T5 I saw a very long line of 96, yes 96, self
service check in kiosks. BA anticipates that, based on research,
the majority of their passengers will either check in online BEFORE
they arrive at LHR, or if not that, then do it at the self service
kiosks. When I raised the question about some older passengers who
might not be as familiar with the so called electronic gadgetry of
today, I was advised that just behind, and slightly beyond these
kiosks, there are 140 customer service desks with a real live human
being to offer help and, if needed, advice.
I mentioned size. Well T5 is enormous. So big in fact, that it’s
five times larger than BA’s current T4, and is so big it could fit
50 yes, fifty soccer pitches over T5’s five floors, and if you’re
into figures, T5’s state-of-the-art baggage system, can handle an
amazing twelve thousand (!) bags per hour. I also found it
interesting to have them tell me that because everything is so
state-of-the-art, passengers’ luggage should (and I guess that’s
the operative word here!) be waiting for customers on the carousel
when they arrive at baggage claim. T5 is, by the way, just British
Airways there will be no other airlines in the facility
whatsoever.
If you’re wondering what to do while you wait, you’ll be pleased
to know that there are at least one hundred and fifty retail
outlets and, for the first time in any airport around the world, a
Tiffany store. As far as I could tell, the diversity of these
stores encompassed just about anything and everything in the world
of shopping. When you talk about customer care, I’m sure you’ll be
as thrilled as I honestly was, when I saw the huge and
exceptionally comfortable areas that BA has devoted to both their
Business class and First class passengers. They’ve got six
different lounges, and not only is there a 100% increase in the
number of shower’s, but and I thought this was wonderful you can
now have a super, duper free massage, courtesy of BA. All this
luxury comes at a cost of about $120 million dollars. If there was
one aspect to all this pampering of the premium passengers at T5
that really impressed me, it is the fact that I felt each lounge
was truly warm and cozy, and they all had superbly comfortable
sofas and areas to relax in (or work!) and you really felt you were
in a luxurious, private home.
With just about everyone almost everywhere concerned about
“Being Green” today as regards the environment, another Wow factor
that stood out, is that there are an incredible three hundred
thousand trees, shrubs and plants that are being used to landscape
the area around T5 and no, I didn’t count them myself (!) but was
given that information when I noted, and commented, at how green
and fresh everything looked outside.
Travel agents who might not have been to London yet, should know
that T5 can be easily reached by several different modes of
transportation The Piccadilly Line of the London Underground is
right there, as is the wonderful Heathrow Express (I always use
this myself, as it is the best, most comfortable, and fastest way
to get into central London) to and from London’s Paddington
station; and if you‘re driving, the Motorway is the M25 that goes
right by LHR - and yes, there is covered parking for three
thousand, eight hundred cars at T5. Before I departed T5 on my
recent visit, I asked a BA official how long they thought it’d be
from the moment you arrived at T5, to when you entered the
Departure area. “That’s easy,” I was told, “no longer than ten
minutes.” It’ll be interesting to see the validity of that comment
after T5 officially opens. Never theless, it is a fantastic, superb
and amazing building, with a John Clayton Wow factor of at least
100. You can see, and find out much more online, at www.terminal5.ba.com
