A 100% purely speculative article about what may happen at Heathrow Terminal 5 soon

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• Paul says:

  19 Jan19 January 12:12

  Don’t know or care what is happening 2-5 years hence but the rumours make a degree of sense. Johnson also needs to show that there is some sort of relationship with the US and having pre clearance would be a fairly easy win.
  I however, would be more concerned about further increases in bussing for short-haul. In the last year I have lost count of how many times late evening European arrivals have been bussed or parked out in 5B or C. Anything that makes that worse would be unacceptable.

  • John says:

    19 Jan19 January 13:13

    That’s down to BA. If BA wanted to they could arrange for all evening arrivals to be airbridged before being towed to the stand later.

  • Lady London says:

    19 Jan19 January 15:01

    When I land and it’s a bl*sted bus, it takes so long I always think of it as the airline fudging the arrival time. It adds so much time before you actually reach the terminal.

    It seems to be done for airline convenience reasons such as the plane’s next movement being to maintenance. Its particularly annoying on late evening arrivals as the extra time may mean you miss other transport.

    • Polly says:

      20 Jan20 January 00:23

      That might explain my last flt from dub, frequently a bus run…almost takes as long as the flight!
      LL see ya tomorrow evening, good catch up needed…..

      • Lady London says:

        20 Jan20 January 00:30

        🙂 looking forward to seeing you both again

      • Stu_N says:

        20 Jan20 January 12:28

        Dublin is a special case, there’s only a couple of gates that can be set up for arrivals – there’s no immigration but you still need to clear customs.

• Charlieface says:

  19 Jan19 January 13:31

  I don’t think people are realising how T5C would be configured. The mezzanine level becomes the same gates doubled up, with extra escalators to each gate. This means they don’t need to worry about which gate they park at because it’s just a matter of reconfiguring the doors. A similar system is used in Dublin. Also Amsterdam use it for section D Schengen gates.

  • Mark says:

    19 Jan19 January 18:54

    I know separate Schengen and non-Schengen departure floors sharing the same gates are common-place in Europe, but we’re talking about a relatively constrained space here. It’s already pretty cramped, especially for A380 departures.

    The existing departure floor would lose considerable space with additional escalators providing gate access from the Mezzanine. And on the Mezzanine floor itself, a new lounge as well as any other amenities in the pre-cleared zone?

• Harry T says:

  19 Jan19 January 16:03

  OT but T5:
  In Plaza Premium T5 and some fellow is watching sport on his iPad using the loud speaker. The conduct of people in public spaces continues to baffle me.

  Mind you, this isn’t as entertaining as the time I watched two gentlemen pack all the sandwiches in PP T5 into their backpack and then literally run out of the lounge.

  • Lady London says:

    19 Jan19 January 16:45

    Have you politely asked him to apply headphones? Or spoken to staff to ask if they would have a word with the person?

    What are other poster views of such possible courses of action/no action ?

    • Peter K says:

      19 Jan19 January 16:51

      I think if it annoys you enough to post a comment on it, then take some action. Personally I’d go to speak to a staff member as a first port of call.

    • Shoestring says:

      19 Jan19 January 16:52

      put your 2 hands together into a megaphone shape and start shouting: ‘oy! oy, you! shut it! shu-u-u-u-ut it!’

    • Harry T says:

      19 Jan19 January 18:15

      I was more amused than perturbed. I wouldn’t consider doing the same as this gentleman; thought it was more curious than genuinely abhorrent. I just moved to a quieter spot when I fancied a nap!

      • Lady London says:

        20 Jan20 January 00:34

        Did you describe that individual as a gentleman, @Harry T?

  • Roy says:

    19 Jan19 January 21:19

    I’ve definitely noticed an increase in antisocial use of loudspeakers on phones/tables in recent years.(Generally, I mean, rather than specifically in lounges.)

    That said I think it’s just gone full circle. There was a point, decades ago, when antisocial use of portable radios and then, briefly, boom boxes, was a common problem. Then the ubuqiuity of the Walkman and its successors and imitations largely changed the nature of portable music, and the biggest problem you were likely to encounter (in extremis still annoyting) was people driving their headphones so loud you could hear them.

    Now, of course, everyone carries a phone or tablet (or both) with speakers, and people are starting to use them in ways that are challenging previous norms…

    • Fenny says:

      22 Jan22 January 00:07

      When the students did this at college, staff would go over and dance and sing along. It certainly made the kids move off and we got to comment make fatuous comments about their music.

• Mark says:

  19 Jan19 January 18:47

  Of course we’re not just talking about carving off separate zones for pre-cleared passengers here. We’re also talking about significant space requirements for the pre-clearance itself, including space for the terminals, manned booths, interview rooms, queuing space, baggage reclaim, customs, post-customs bag drop, amendment of the baggage system to convey bags to where they need to be. Assuming T5C was never designed with that in mind, and there is unused space hidden away to accommodate it , I can’t see how that could ever be possible.

  • James says:

    19 Jan19 January 19:49

    Hi, sorry if it’s obvious, but why would pre clearance require baggage drop in T5C?
    Wouldn’t bags still be dropped as usual?
    All that would be needed in T5C is the US customs booths and agents.?

    • ChrisC says:

      19 Jan19 January 21:20

      You need space for a security area – you go through full, additional security screening.- so you need scanners and the tray system for carry ons plus a queueing area.

      Also the baggage system needs to take a photo of your bags when you check-in which they show you as part of pre clearance. You don’t actually carry your bags through that part so no reclaim is needed.

      Pre clearance is not entirely the same process as clearing immigration on landing in the US.

      There are videos on the Shannon and Dublin airport websites that explain the process.

      • Mark says:

        19 Jan19 January 21:32

        In that case it must work slightly differently depend on where you pre-clear. We definitely did get our checked bags back in Aruba (after checking them in as normal), walked them through customs and dropped them again.

        I honestly can’t remember whether we had to do that in Toronto, which is the only other place we’ve done preclearance.

      • James says:

        19 Jan19 January 21:33

        Ah ok.
        I have only ever done the pre clearance at Toronto Airport.
        Its much simpler there vs What Ireland sounds like.

        • Lady London says:

          20 Jan20 January 00:42

          In YYZ it was so simple I see didn’t even know I’d precleaned. IIRC it was a bit like Eurostar – through a Canadian immi/transit terminal then under a sign in the YYZ terminal saying US border then being interviewed by a US Immigration officer then landing in FLL domestically.

• Delboy65 says:

  19 Jan19 January 20:30

  O/T Sorry, but having ever flown a code share in the USA i am trying to get advice as to which option is best from a TP and Avios point of view when returning from San Jose, CA.. I am Bronze and the direct fare on BA in WT+ (6,711av/90TP) is same fare as a few connection options like: SJC-DFW AA (Econ B class) then BA WT+ to LHR.. Do you earn Av & TP for both legs of the code share (I.e. 20+90 TP)?

  • ChrisC says:

    19 Jan19 January 21:23

    yes. use the TP calculator on the BA website to verify based on the actual fare code of your flight.

    • Delboy65 says:

      20 Jan20 January 06:21

      Cheers

• Wasn’t Me says:

  19 Jan19 January 22:00

  A couple of points here to mention from the article… there is NO more room in T5C for extra aircraft, all stands are used already.
  Also, T5B A380 stands are only on the side opposite T5C…as taxiway Bravo in only code ‘Enforcement, therefore not A380 accessible.

• JP says:

  21 Jan21 January 00:01

  I can see quite a big drop-off of BA and AA passengers if there is no alternative but to tramp down the escalators/wait for the lift and then wait for the shuttle (hang on tight!) and then reverse the process at the other end.
  It’s a pain in the proverbial having to do it by chance and I’m reasonably fit and not your average stereotyped corpulent captain of industry!
  I’ve only had to do it three times in the last couple of years and already the novelty of the quietude and different views from T5B and C have worn off.

  • Riccatti says:

    21 Jan21 January 04:15

    Imagine a track for an AA top elite:

    First Wing check-in on south side of terminal,
    Run all way to north side (potential AA Flagship instead of Galleries North)
    Run almost all way back to south side to catch train to T5 satellites B, C
    Huge escalator
    Wait for the train shuttle (one-direction there and back)

• Richard Lee-Smith says:

  30 Jan30 January 20:55

  This would surely require similar arrangements at T2 and T3 for UA and VS/DL respectively in order to maintain a level playing field?

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