"Heathrow's new Terminal 5: A shopping traveler's dream"

Sunday, December 2, 2007

Heathrow's new Terminal 5: A shopping traveler's dream
The Los Angeles (CA) Times


LONDON - Is relief in sight for harried fliers at Europe's biggest airport?
Four months before Heathrow's new Terminal 5 is to open, officials gave
media a sneak peak at the futuristic facility, which they hope will dispel
images of weary crowds searching for lost bags and waiting for late fights.

"It's been 20 years in the making," Nick Ziebland, retail strategy director
of the British Airports Authority, the airport's private-company operator,
said recently during the tour of the light-filled, spacious terminal, which
will be used by British Airways and its subsidiaries starting March 27.

Heathrow, built to manage 45 million passengers a year, is now coping with
68 million. Terminal 5, with capacity for 30 million annual passengers,
should help alleviate the load.

In another piece of good news for travelers, Britain's strict security
rules, which limit fliers to one carry-on item, might be loosened soon. The
rules, imposed in 2006 after a bomb scare, have contributed to a surge in
checked bags that has overwhelmed Heathrow's facilities.

The BAA is negotiating with the British government to allow two pieces of
hand luggage - such as a laptop or purse plus a carry-on bag - to be taken
aboard, BAA representatives said.

The new Terminal 5 will have 60 flight gates and 29 security machines to
scan luggage and customers.

Security and passport checks should be fast enough for passengers to enjoy
the open-air feeling of the departure area on two levels, where designer
stores will compete with gourmet restaurants and views that stretch over the
runways and west to the towers of Windsor Castle or east to the London
skyline.

Michelin-starred chef Gordon Ramsay will open a 180-seat restaurant, Plane
Food. Harrods, Paul Smith, Tiffany and Prada are some of the retail names.
If you like the decor, pictures or the sofa in Paul Smith's designer-clothes
store, you can buy an item and have it shipped home. Harrods will have
clothes and accessories rather than tourist wares. ("Not a teddy bear in
sight," Ziebland said.)

Big, bright Terminal 5 was designed by Richard Rogers, the British architect
known for the glass-and-steel Pompidou Centre in Paris. Everything is
visible, including infrastructure within the ceiling and massive tubular
steel pillars that support the glass-vaulted roof.

Concurrent with the launch of Terminal 5, an "open-skies" agreement will
take effect and loosen restrictions on flights between the U.S. and the
European Union. The much-coveted routes between Heathrow and the U.S. have
been dominated by a handful of carriers. Now, other airlines will get a shot
too.


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