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BA delays shift of long haul flights to T5
The planned move of British Airways long haul services from Heathrow Terminal 4 at Heathrow to accident-prone Terminal 5 will be deferred until June.
BA had originally planned to move the services across to the £4.3 billion new terminal at the end of this month.
Almost all BA’s T4 long-haul services were due to switch to T5 on April 30 – totalling about 60 departures and 60 arrivals a day.
Passengers who will fly from Terminal 4 rather than Terminal 5 as a result of the postponement will be contacted shortly, the airline said.
BA chief executive Willie Walsh said: “We are making this decision in the interests of customers.
“Though Terminal Five is now working well, we need to have confidence that good service can be maintained when the terminal is handling larger numbers of customers.
“It is only sensible to ensure that Terminal 5 is operating consistently at a high standard before the move begins.â€
While a normal flight schedule has been operated at Terminal 5 since Tuesday, we want to ensure that customers can be confident of high service standards when additional flights are introduced, a joint BA/BAA statement said.
“We will work together to iron out any remaining problems, including the baggage system and its operation, and develop a robust timescale for phasing the move of Terminal 4 services into Terminal 5.â€
BAA chief executive Colin Matthews said: “BAA regrets this postponement, and we recognize the impact it has on other airlines, but we believe it is a wise precaution to ensure that passengers can have the maximum confidence once the move does take place.
“We will be working very closely with BA in the intervening period to ensure that result, as well as working with the other airlines to mitigate as much as possible the knock-on effects.â€
“BAA fully recognizes that the inauguration of Terminal Five has not been as smooth as we and BA would have wished.
“In the last few days passengers have seen significant improvement and our goal is to complete that process as soon as possible before continuing the next phase of transforming the rest of the airport.â€
By : Phil Davies
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