Virgin Atlantic has outlined plans to upgrade Heathrow Terminal 3 to compete with the new T5.
By the end of this year, it says all Virgin passengers will be using a new “wider, brighter and more spacious” Check In area in Zone A with a state-of-the art Drive Thru Check In for its Upper Class passengers.
The development has been designed by Foster + Partners in conjunction with Virgin’s in-house design team.
The airline expects that 80% of its passengers from Heathrow will be using Online Check In and Kiosk Check In by the end of 2008.
Virgin chief executive Steve Ridgway said: “We estimate that it will take the majority of our passengers under 15 minutes to check in and get through to the departure lounge and even less time for our Upper Class passengers to get to the Clubhouse – in contrast to most of BA’s long haul passengers, who will have a longer journey through the vast T5, with huge distances from the kerbside to lounges and to the planes.”
By Bev Fearis
