BAA Ltd. is the Spanish-owned operator of six British airports (including Heathrow Airport) and Naples Airport in Italy, making the company one of the largest transport companies in the world. BAA stems from British Airports Authority and is owned by a consortium led by Grupo Ferrovial, a Spanish firm specialising in infrastructure. The company's head office is located in The Compass Centre on the grounds of London Heathrow Airport in the London Borough of Hillingdon.

BAA makes money from charging landing fees to airlines and increasingly from ancillary operations within those airports such as retail and property. BAA does not operate all UK airports - most are in the ownership of local authorities or other corporations.

BAA was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index but is now owned by FGP TopCo Limited, an international consortium, which includes Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, which manages public pension plans in the Canadian province of Quebec, and GIC Special Investments, a sovereign wealth fund established by the Government of Singapore in 1981 to manage Singapore's foreign reserves, that is led by the Spanish Ferrovial Group, a Spanish multinational company involved in the design, construction, financing, operation (DBFO) and maintenance of transport, urban and services infrastructure.^[1]

History[link]

BAA Limited building at London Heathrow Airport, behind the Terminal 4 Short Stay Car Park

The British Airports Authority was established by the passing of Airport Authority Act 1965, to take responsibility for three state-owned airports - London Heathrow Airport, London Gatwick Airport, and London Stansted Airport. In the following few years, the authority acquired responsibility for Glasgow International Airport, Edinburgh Airport, Southampton Airport and Aberdeen Airport. The Authority took on the Ministry of Civil Aviation Constabulary in 1946, which was renamed to become the British Airports Authority Constabulary, and was disbanded between 1974 and 1975.

As part of Margaret Thatcher's moves to privatise government owned assets, the Airports Act 1986 was passed which mandated the creation of BAA plc as a vehicle by which stock market funds could be raised. The initial capitalisation of BAA plc was £1,225 million. In the early 1990s, the company sold Prestwick International Airport (now known as Glasgow Prestwick Airport).

In July 2006, BAA was taken over by a consortium led by Grupo Ferrovial, following a bid which valued the company at £10.1 billion ($20 billion).^[2] As a result, the company was delisted from the London Stock Exchange (where it had previously been part of the FTSE100 index) on 15 August 2006, and the company name was subsequently changed from BAA plc to BAA Limited.

As a major client of the UK construction industry, it is a member of the Construction Clients' Group, which represents client views to the government's Strategic Forum for Construction.

Recent Expansion[link]

BAA expanded into international operations, including retail contracts at Boston Logan International Airport and Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport (through its subsidiary BAA USA, Inc.), and a management contract with the City of Indianapolis to run the Indianapolis International Airport (as BAA Indianapolis, Inc.) before ultimately selling off its US division to Prospect Capital Corporation in July 2010.^[3]

In December 2005, BAA made a winning bid of £1.2 billion for a 75% stake in Budapest Ferihegy International Airport, the largest airport in Hungary, which was being privatised by the Hungarian government. Following the take-over of BAA by Grupo Ferrovial in 2006, the decision was made to sell the stake in Ferihegy and this was completed in June 2007, when a consortium led by Hochtief AirPort of Germany purchased the stake.^[4]

Name[link]

Although the company is adamant that its name is strictly "BAA Limited" and that the letters do not officially stand for anything, it is still widely (albeit erroneously) referred to as the "British Airports Authority" by both the media and the public - even though the Authority was dissolved following the 1986 privatisation.^[5]

Operations[link]

Owned and operated by BAA[link]

Heathrow

Stansted

Southampton

Glasgow

Aberdeen

BAA's five airports in the UK

• London Heathrow Airport
• London Stansted Airport
• Aberdeen Airport
• Glasgow International Airport
• Southampton Airport

Operated by BAA[link]

• Naples International Airport (Italy)

Previously owned and operated by BAA[link]

• Edinburgh Airport
• London Gatwick Airport [Sold on 3 December 2009 to Global Infrastructure Partners for a fee of £1.51 billion].^[6][7]
• Glasgow Prestwick International Airport

Previously managed by BAA[link]

• Indianapolis International Airport
• Baltimore-Washington International Airport
• Boston Logan International Airport
• Pittsburgh International Airport

Rail owner/management[link]

• Heathrow Express Owns and operates.
• Heathrow Connect Joint operation with First.

Controversies[link]

Heathrow management[link]

BAA has garnered criticism for its handling of Heathrow, namely its predominant placement of shops rather than extra security aisles.^[2] After much criticism for this, BAA has now removed some shops to provide extra security lanes. The Economist writes that retail is important for BAA at Heathrow because, by law, landing charges are much less than those of similar-scope airports and retail shops help make up the difference.^[2]

Snow Crisis[link]

BAA has been accused of under-investing in snow and ice-fighting technology at Heathrow, which led to runway closures and severe delays in December 2010.^[8] Heathrow plans to spend just £3.5 million on this technology during 2010-2014, compared with spending of £8 million during the same period at Gatwick, an airport half its size.

General Aviation[link]

BAA operates its airports in a way that seeks to meet the needs of passengers and airlines while at the same time providing an appropriate return on investment.^[9] BAA's pricing structure effectively prohibits mainstream General Aviation access to their airports by either banning the movements of light aircraft, or setting unrealistic fees and expensive mandatory handling charges.

Flights for recreational, commemorative, charity and record breaking purposes, light twin engined private aircraft and all light single engined aircraft are not permitted to use Heathrow Airport.^[10]

The total charges for landing, two-nights of parking and mandatory handling for a Cessna 152 (including VAT) in 2011 was: £757 at Stansted,^[11] £242 at Edinburgh,^[12] £193 at both Glasgow^[13] and Southampton^[14] Airports.

Competition[link]

Wikinews has related news: UK's BAA forced to sell three airports

After an enquiry from August 2008–March 2009,^[15] the UK Competition Commission announced that BAA will be forced to sell three of the seven UK airports it owned at the time. Gatwick, Stansted and one of either Glasgow or Edinburgh airports within two years over fears the monopoly position held by BAA over London and Scotland's airports could have “adverse effects for both passengers and airlines”. The sales are likely to raise between £3.5bn and £4bn.^[16]

On 19 October 2011, BAA Announced that Edinburgh Airport would be put up for sale^[17] in early 2012 with an aim to handing over the running of the site to a new owner by Summer 2012. Numerous groups are reported to have expressed interest, including a consortium of Scottish businesses headed by former Edinburgh Airport Manager, and Fraport, the owners of Frankfurt Airport, Germany.

Sale of Gatwick Airport[link]

BAA announced plans to sell Gatwick Airport on 17 September 2008.^[18] At that time, Gatwick Airport was valued at £1.8bn by regulators and it appeared that multiple firms including Macquarie Group, Manchester Airports Group, Fraport and Virgin Atlantic were interested in this sale, either on their own or as part of a consortium of companies.^[19] Ferrovial and its partners (Government of Singapore Investment Corporation and Quebec’s state pension fund) had been seeking £1.8bn- £2bn when they opened the bidding process.^[6]

Eventually, the sale was confirmed on 21 October 2009 and formally completed on 3 December 2009, for a fee of £1.51 billion. This is almost 25 per cent less than BAA had expected Gatwick would fetch when the sale was announced a year previously.^[7] BAA sold the airport to Global Infrastructure Partners, the fund backed by Credit Suisse and General Electric, who also operate London City Airport. Ferrovial, the majority holder in BAA, said that it expected to make a capital loss of around 142 million euros (US$ 212.6 million) against its consolidated earnings following the sale.^[20]

Heathrow protest injunction[link]

In July 2007 BAA sought an injunction preventing potential protesters involved in the Camp for Climate Action from approaching its London Heathrow Airport. The injunction specifically targeted anyone belonging to, or protesting in the name of, AirportWatch, The No Third Runway Action Group and Plane Stupid. However, Airport Watch members included Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace, the Campaign to Protect Rural England, the World Development Movement, the National Trust and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds - all of whom were caught by what became known as the 'Mother of all Injunctions'.^[21] BAA denied seeking a blanket ban on airport protest. In the end BAA won a very much more limited injunction^[22] and the camp went ahead amid considerable worldwide publicity.^[23] Afterward, Duncan Bonfield, BAA director of corporate affairs, and Mark Mann, BAA head of media relations, resigned.^[24]

Climate change[link]

BAA is a founding member of Flying Matters,^[25] a coalition of business groups, trade unions, tourism groups and the aviation industry (airports, airlines, aerospace manufacturers and air traffic control)^[26] launched in June 2007^[27] to "balance the argument around issues of aviation and climate change" arguing that aviation does not contribute significantly to climate change, and that an expansion of aviation will aid the developing world, benefit social justice, and is essential for UK tourism and for the UK economy.

Ownership[link]

Owner	Shares	Corporation	Shares	Corporation
Ferrovial Group	49.99%	-	-	Airport Investment and Development Ltd
Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec	26.48%	Airports Infrastructure Fund LP	26.48%
GIC Special Investments	17.65%	Baker Street Investment Pte Ltd	17.65%
Alinda Infrastructure Investments	5.88%	Alinda Infrastructure Investments	5.88%

Head office[link]

The Compass Centre, when it was a British Airways facility

BAA Limited's head office is located in the Compass Centre on the grounds of London Heathrow Airport in the London Borough of Hillingdon.^[28][29] Compass Centre previously served as a British Airways flight crew centre.^[30] When London Heathrow Terminal 5 opened on 27 March 2008, British Airways staff, including crew check-in staff, relocated from the Compass Centre to Terminal 5.^[31]

BAA Limited's head office was previously located near London Victoria station in the City of Westminster, London.^[32][33][34]

References[link]

External links[link]

	London portal
	Companies portal
	Aviation portal

• BAA - Official website
• Colin Matthews, BAA CEO discusses the proposed Heathrow third runway and new terminal(video)
• Sir Norman Payne - Daily Telegraph obituary

London Heathrow Terminal 5
Terminal 5 exterior
Location within United Kingdom Greater London
Alternative names	Terminal 5, British Airways Terminal 5, T5
General information
Type	Airport terminal
Location	Junction 14 of the M25 off the A3044
Address	Harmondsworth, London, TW6 2GA
Coordinates	51°28′22″N 0°29′15″W / 51.47278°N 0.48756°W / 51.47278; -0.48756
Elevation	22 m (72 ft)
Current tenants	International Airlines Group
Construction started	September 2002
Completed	2008
Inaugurated	14 March 2008 (opened 27 March)
Cost	£4.2 billion
Technical details
Structural system	Steel frame roof with glass facades
Floor area	353,020 sq metres (Concourse A), 18,500 sq metres (retail area)
Design and construction
Client	BAA
Landlord	BAA
Main contractor	Laing O'Rourke, Morgan Vinci JV (tunnelling)
Architect	Richard Rogers
Architecture firm	Richard Rogers Partnership
Services engineer	Hathaway Roofing Ltd (roof)
Civil engineer	Arup (above ground), Mott MacDonald (substructures)
Other designers	Pascall + Watson

London Heathrow Terminal 5 is an airport terminal at London Heathrow Airport, serving the British capital city of London. Opened in 2008, the main building in the complex is the largest free-standing structure in the United Kingdom. Terminal 5 is currently used exclusively as one of the three global hubs of International Airlines Group, served by British Airways and Iberia, with the others being London Gatwick North and Madrid Barajas Terminal 4. Prior to March 2012, the terminal was used exclusively by British Airways. The terminal is designed to ultimately handle 35 million passengers a year.

The building's lead architects were from the Richard Rogers Partnership and production design was completed by aviation architects Pascall + Watson. The engineers for the structure were Arup and Mott MacDonald. The building cost £4 billion and took 19 years from conception to completion, including the longest public inquiry in British history.

History[link]

Plans[link]

The possibility of a fifth terminal at Heathrow emerged as early as 1982, when there was debate over whether the expansion of Stansted or the expansion of Heathrow (advocated by BA) was the way forward for the UK aviation industry.^[1] Planning studies for the terminal commenced in February 1988 and Richard Rogers was selected to design the terminal in 1989. BAA formally announced its proposal for T5 in May 1992, submitting a formal planning application on 17 February 1993.^[2][3] A public inquiry into the proposals began on 16 May 1995 and lasted nearly four years, finally ending on 17 March 1999 after sitting for 525 days. The inquiry, based at the Renaissance Hotel Heathrow, was the longest planning inquiry ever held in the UK.^[4] Finally, more than eight years after the initial planning application, then-transport minister Stephen Byers announced on 20 November 2001 the British government's decision to grant planning permission for the building of a fifth passenger terminal at Heathrow.

Construction[link]

Terminal 5 under construction in July 2006. The frontal car park building can be seen to the left, air side is to the right

Construction began in September 2002, with earthworks for the construction of the buildings' foundation. A preparatory archaeological dig at the site found more than 80,000 artefacts: see [1]. In November of the following year, work started on the steel superstructure of the main terminal building. By January 2005 the nine tunnels needed to provide road and rail access, and to provide drainage, were completed. In March of the same year, the sixth and final section of the main terminal roof was lifted into position, and in December the building was made weatherproof. This roof could not have been lifted with conventional cranes because it would have penetrated vertically into the airport's radar field. Therefore, the roof was assembled on the ground using smaller cranes, then lifted into place by eight custom-built towers, each fitted with two hydraulic jacks to pull the roof up. At peak there were around 8,000 people working on the construction site, whilst over the life of the project over 60,000 people have been involved.^[5][6] Over 15,000 volunteers were recruited for a total of 68 trials lasting from September 2007 until March 2008 to test the operational readiness of Terminal 5 prior to its opening.^[5]

Opening[link]

Queen Elizabeth II officially opened Terminal 5 in a ceremony on 14 March 2008. Used exclusively by British Airways, the terminal opened for passenger use on 27 March 2008, with flight 26 from Hong Kong its first arrival at 04:50 GMT. The first passenger to enter Terminal 5 was Paul Walker, a UK ex-pat from Kenya who entered through security at 04:30 on 27 March 2008 and was presented with a boarding pass by the British Airways CEO Willie Walsh for the first departing flight, BA302 to Paris.^[5][7]

Terminal 5A landside concourse

On the day of opening it quickly became apparent that the new terminal was not operating smoothly, and British Airways cancelled 34 flights and was later forced to suspend baggage check-in.^[8][9] Over the following 10 days some 42,000 bags failed to travel with their owners,^[10] and over 500 flights were cancelled. British Airways was not able to operate its full schedule from Terminal 5 until 8 April 2008 and had to postpone the transfer of its long-haul flights from Terminal 4 to Terminal 5.^[11] The difficulties were later blamed on a number of problems with the terminal's IT systems, coupled with car parking.^[12] British Airways launched an advertising campaign to assure the public that things are working normally again.^[13]

Site[link]

British Airways Boeing 747-400s at Terminal 5.

The Terminal 5 building is on a 260 hectares (640 acres) site on the western side of the airport, between the western ends of the northern and southern runways. The site was previously occupied by the Perry Oaks sewage works, and lies to the east of the M25 motorway. Two artificial watercourses, the Longford River and the Duke of Northumberland's River, originally ran through the middle of the site.^[6] Most of the terminal is in the ecclesiastical parish of Harmondsworth. The southern section, including the train station, is in the ecclesiastical parish of Stanwell. The whole area is in the London Borough of Hillingdon.

Twin Rivers Diversion Scheme[link]

One of the most time-critical civil engineering sub-projects of the Terminal's construction programme was the diversion of the Longford River and Duke of Northumberland's River around the western perimeter of the airport. This was a complex scheme, which involved not only the re-routing of the two rivers but also the realignment of the A3044 dual carriageway and Western Perimeter Road. The challenge was complicated by strict time constraints and the proximity of the works to local residents. Further restrictions to site activities resulted from the overhead flight path from both runways. 95% of the diverted rivers were placed in two open man-made channels 6 km in length, compared with only 50% of the original rivers which were conveyed beneath the runways in culverts. The Twin Rivers Diversion scheme achieved a Civil Engineering Environmental Quality (CEEQUAL) Award for its ability to maintain high environmental standards and quality during design and construction of the project.^[14] It involved much moving and planting of river wildlife and plants.^[15]

Buildings[link]

Exterior of Terminal 5A building showing aircraft taxiing towards runway 9R's holding point

The Terminal 5 complex includes several buildings, a new control tower and a railway station.

The main terminal building is referred to as Terminal 5A. There are two satellite buildings, Terminal 5B and Terminal 5C. At the time of opening, Terminal 5A and Terminal 5B were completed, whilst Terminal 5C was under construction and scheduled to open later in May 2010; however it only opened in June 2011.^[16] The whole complex is fronted by a separate building containing road transport facilities.

Within the complex are more than 100 shops and restaurants.^[17]

Main terminal building[link]

The terminal building from the air

The main terminal building is 396 metres (1,299 ft) long, 176 metres (577 ft) wide and 40 metres (130 ft) tall.^[18] It is the largest building in the Terminal 5 complex and is the biggest free-standing building in the United Kingdom. Its four storeys are covered by a single-span undulating steel frame roof, with glass façades angled at 6.5 degrees to the vertical. The area covered by the roof is the size of five football pitches, and each section weighs 2,200 tonnes.

The airside façade from the inside

T5A contains a check-in hall, a departure lounge with retail stores and other passenger services, and a baggage reclaim hall. T5A contains the bulk of the terminal's baggage handling system. This baggage handling system is the largest in the world with 8 kilometres (5.0 mi) of high-speed track and 18 kilometres (11 mi) of regular conveyor belts. It is designed to handle 4,000 bags per hour, and also has an "early bag store" which can temporarily store up to 4,000 bags.

Departing passengers enter the departures level on the third floor by lift or escalator from the interchange plaza. Upon entering the departures concourse, passengers see views across Heathrow and the surrounding area, and are in a space that is unobstructed to the rising roof above. After check-in and security screening, the airside departure lounge also provides views across the airport, its runways and beyond.^{[citation needed]}

British Airways maintains offices overlooking the main Terminal 5 passenger handling areas, designed so that staff can have, in the words of Aviation Transport Weekly, a "visual connection to customers". When Terminal 5 opened on 27 March 2008, British Airways staff, including crew check-in staff, relocated from the Compass Centre to Terminal 5.^[19]

Satellite terminal buildings[link]

British Airways check-in desks inside Terminal 5's main building

Terminal 5B was the first satellite building to be built. Terminal 5C is the second satellite building, opening unofficially on 20th May 2011, with official opening on 1st June 2011, in conjunction with the relaunch of British Airways service to San Diego. There is also the potential for an additional satellite building, T5D, to be located to the east of T5C, as displayed in Heathrow's Capital Investment Plan for 2009.

Terminal 5B measures 442 metres (1,450 ft) long by 52 metres (171 ft) wide and 19.5 metres (64 ft) high, and contains 37 lifts and 29 escalators.^[6]

An underground automated people mover (APM) system, to the Bombardier Innovia APM 200 design, is used to transport passengers between Terminal 5A, Terminal 5B and Terminal 5C. The APM system is located air side and is thus only available to passengers and other authorised personnel. The system can accommodate up to 6,800 passengers per hour and the trains run at 50 km/h (31 miles per hour) with a journey time of 45 seconds. Passengers descend to the station via the longest open design escalator in Europe.^{[citation needed]}

Frontal building[link]

Entrance doors to Terminal 5A building on departures level

Unlike most airport terminals, the main terminal building does not have direct road access. Instead it is fronted by a 6-level frontal building, which contains a bus station and taxi rank (at ground level), a 3,800 space short stay multi-storey car park (levels 1 to 4) and a drop off zone (level 5). A walkway at level 1 of the frontal building provides under-cover access to the SOFITEL Heathrow Airport T5 Hotel, whilst a section of level 2 is used for the link to the long term business car park (see below).^[6]

The frontal building is connected to the main terminal by covered walkways at ground level (the arrivals level of the main terminal building) and skybridges at level 5 (departures level). The combination of the two buildings with the linking walkways creates a series of open courtyards. Whilst one of these courtyards is occupied by the access structures for the railway station below, others contain a dancing fountain and a grove of 40 London Plane trees, and are accessible to passengers and other terminal visitors.^[6]

Airlines and destinations[link]

British Airways use Terminal 5 to operate the vast majority of their flights serving Heathrow. Some destinations are served from Terminal 3, primarily to those also served by BA's Oneworld alliance partners such as Qantas and Finnair; also, since their acquisition of British Midland International, former BMI routes operate from Terminal 1. Since March 2012, Iberia has operated from Terminal 5, though their flights to and from London now operate with BA flight numbers.^[20]

In 2011 Terminal 5 handled 26.3 million passengers on 184,616 flights.^[21]

Ground transport[link]

The transport network around the airport has been extended to cope with the increase in passenger numbers. This has involved widening of the M25 motorway and the construction of new branches of both the Heathrow Express and the London Underground Piccadilly line.

Road links[link]

Side view of Terminal 5A building, showing aircraft stands and airbridges

A dedicated motorway spur has been built from the M25 between junctions 14 and 15 to the terminal. The spur also connects to the airport's perimeter road, and provides direct connections to the frontal building at ground level (for bus station and taxi rank), level 4 (for car parking) and level 5 (for departure set down). The car parking on levels 1 to 3 is accessed from a series of spiral ramps that descend from level 4 to ground level.

Besides the short-stay car parking in front of the main terminal, Terminal 5 is also served by separate business and long-term car parks. These are accessed from the airport's perimeter road and are some distance from the terminal. The long-term car park is linked to the terminal by bus, and the business car park is served by an elevated personal rapid transit system (see below).

The terminal is also connected to Terminals 1, 2 and 3 by the Heathrow Airside Road Tunnel, although, as its name suggests, this is not available for public traffic.

Railway links[link]

Platform 4 at the station

Terminal 5 is served by the Heathrow Terminal 5 station, which is located beneath the main terminal building, and serves both the London Underground and Heathrow Express rail connections to the terminal. The railway station also has two additional, currently unused, platforms for use by a possible westward railway connection. BAA is currently^[when?] consulting on the route of a new rail link, called Heathrow Airtrack, to Staines High Street and through direct services to Reading, Guildford and London Waterloo.

Interchange Plaza outside main Terminal 5A building

A tube train on Platform 6 at Terminal 5

Heathrow Express provides an express service to Paddington station in central London, stopping only at Heathrow Central station. Trains run every 15 minutes and the journey time to Paddington is 21 minutes. Premium fares are charged for the service to Paddington. However no fares are charged for the journey to Heathrow Central, which provides access to Terminals 1 to 3, to the Heathrow airport central bus station, and to the Heathrow Connect semi-fast rail service to Paddington. Terminal 4 can be reached by changing trains to the Heathrow Connect service, which is also fare-free for this journey.

The Piccadilly Line of the London Underground provides a slower stopping service to central London, with a journey time of between 45 minutes and one hour depending on exact destination. Trains run every 10 minutes, and provide service to many stations en route to and within central London, with interchange available to the rest of the London Underground network. The Piccadilly Line is integrated into the Transport for London fare system.

Terminal 5 is also served by RailAir express buses, which link the terminal's bus station (see below) with Reading station, for rail services to the west, and Woking station, for rail services to the south.

Bus links[link]

The bus and coach station in the frontal building is served by a number of bus and coach services, including long-distance National Express coach service, "The Airline" service running from Oxford, RailAir buses, local public bus services, shuttle buses to airport hotels, long term car parking and car hire lots, and staff shuttle buses.

Because Terminal 5 is close to the boundary of Greater London, some local buses are part of the London Buses network, whilst others are run by operators from outside the London Buses area. As of November 2008^[update], the following local buses serve T5:^[22]

Artwork wall/dancing fountain at the interchange plaza

• 60 – Heathrow - Wraysbury - Datchet - Slough - Eton - Eton Wick;
• 51 – Heathrow - Staines - Addlestone - Chertsey - Weybridge - Byfleet - Brooklands;
• 71 – Heathrow - Staines - Egham - Windsor - Slough;
• 77 – Heathrow - Langley - Slough - Windsor - Dedworth;
• 78 – Heathrow - Langley - Slough - Britwell;
• 350* – Heathrow - West Drayton - Stockley Park - Hayes and Harlington station;
• 423* – Heathrow - Hatton Cross station - Hounslow;
• 441 – Heathrow - Stanwell - Staines - Egham - Englefield Green;
• 482* – Heathrow - Hatton Cross station - Heston - Southall;
• 490* – Heathrow - Feltham - Twickenham - Richmond - North Sheen;
• 724 – Heathrow - Uxbridge - Watford - St Albans - Hatfield - Welwyn Garden City - Hertford - Harlow;
• Night Bus N9* – Heathrow - Hounslow - Chiswick - Hammersmith - Kensington - Trafalgar Square - Aldwych;

* Routes marked with an asterisk are part of the TfL London bus network.

Personal rapid transit system[link]

An ULTra personal rapid transit production vehicle

A 2.4 miles (3.9 km) long elevated and at grade personal rapid transit system links the business car park nearby and the main Terminal 5A building. The system opened to public usage in May 2011, although its usage was initially described as passenger trials, with full service commencing in September of the same year.^[23][24]

This system has been designed by Bristol based Advanced Transport Systems to their ULTra design, and the intention is that it will eventually transport passengers around the perimeter fence to Terminals 1, 2 and 3.

New control tower[link]

New Heathrow control tower

At the time of its design Terminal 5's proposed height was so tall that it would have blocked runway views from Heathrow Airport's then control tower. Therefore, before construction began on the terminal building, a new taller air traffic control tower was constructed. Costing £50 million it was assembled off-site before being manoeuvred into position within the central terminal area near to Heathrow Terminal 3, during 2004. This new control tower weighs nearly 1000 tons and is 87 m (285 ft) in height, making it one of the tallest in Europe and twice the height of London's Nelson's Column. It became operational in April 2007.

References[link]

External links[link]

	London portal
	Aviation portal

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Heathrow Terminal 5

• British Airways site about T5
• BAA site about T5
• Richard Rogers Partnership site about T5
• The logistical challenge of engineering T5, Ingenia magazine, March 2008

Geographic data related to London Heathrow Terminal 5 at OpenStreetMap

• Airport Technology
• Construction specification
• Mott MacDonald
• Laing O'Rourke
• British Panoramics

Video clips[link]

• Terminal 5 at YouTube

v t e London Heathrow Airport Terminals Terminal 1 Terminal 2 (under construction) Terminal 3 Terminal 4 Terminal 5 Air hub for British Airways Virgin Atlantic Airways Rail Stations Heathrow Central Terminals 1, 2, 3 Terminal 4 (Rail) Terminal 4 (tube) Terminal 5 Rail Services Heathrow Connect Heathrow Express Piccadilly line Terminal 5 PRT Future Crossrail Heathrow Airtrack (abandoned) Heathrow Hub station Terminal 2 Terminal 6 & Runway 3 Tunnels Heathrow Airside Road Tunnel Heathrow Cargo Tunnel BAA Heathrow Airport Website