HRG’s Mike Platt warns of trouble at T5 – TravelMole Guest Comment

Mike Platt, group industry affairs director at HRG, explains why there must be a shift in passenger behaviour if Heathrow’s new Terminal 5 is a success.

“We welcome the opening of Terminal 5 and we’re confident that in the long-term it will enhance the passenger experience.

Its location between the two runways will ultimately speed up take offs and minimise taxing times for planes – helping to reduce carbon emissions and the impact on the environment – and benefiting customers by getting them to their destination quicker.

Initially this improvement will be impacted as the lack of finished gates will mean greater use of buses to parked aircraft.

State of the art baggage and security measures at Terminal 5 will set the standard for the future of air travel although there is still a critical need for better baggage links between terminals which is a major cause of lost bags.

Once up and running, the new automated biometric technology systems will dramatically reduce boarding times, but the use of new technology will inevitably cause some delays, as teething problems are ironed out.

However, we anticipate continued objection by some domestic passengers to providing fingerprints which could continue these delays.

However, there are a number of pressing issues that have either not been given sufficient consideration, or that we feel have not been made clear to passengers.

A primary concern is that the smooth operation of Terminal 5 relies on fundamental changes in the behaviour of air travellers and it is unrealistic to expect this to happen over night. The result in the short-term is that we expect possible delays and strongly advise business travellers to factor this into journey times.

The revolutionary design is based on the premise that the majority of passengers will check in online and print their own boarding cards prior to arrival at the airport.

In the terminal, travellers will find that almost 100 fast baggage drop off points have replaced many of the traditional check-in desks.

If passengers don’t take advantage of this new system, the limited number of check-in desks will result in long queues.

There will also be no dedicated desks for club or Executive Club silver card holders which will mean they will have to allow a little more time in case there is initial confusion. Only First Class, Premier or Gold card holders have their own check in area.

What’s more, with passenger numbers expected to grow by 27 million per year following the opening of Terminal 5, there appears to be a number of issues related to transport to and from the airport.

Again, the effective running of the new terminal relies on a shift in behaviour, with passengers moving from private to public transport. Roads surrounding Heathrow are notoriously congested and the expected two-fold increase in traffic will only make the situation worse particularly as the Terminal 5 access road is on an already busy stretch of the M25. In addition, short-term parking spaces appear to be limited in comparison to the predicted number of travellers.

Encouraging passengers onto the public transport network is a positive step in terms of the environment, helping to reduce congestion and pollution on the roads. However, equal consideration needs to be given to ensure that the system can accommodate this change.

Currently, the Piccadilly line and Heathrow Express have been extended to take passengers to the new terminal, but there is insufficient infrastructure development to cater for the increased volume of passenger traffic.

Heathrow will be the better for Terminal 5 but it would be unwise to think that such major change can work seamlessly from day one. Travellers need to be aware of this in order to get the best out of this new experience.”