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Heathrow approves the new T2 baggage system, with T1 demolition and T2 extension to follow

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The development of the Central Terminal Area at Heathrow has taken a step forward with the signing of the contract for the new Terminal 2 baggage systems.

This will cascade a series of changes which will allow incremental expansion as the third runway project potentially falls away. The sale of Ferrovial’s stake in the airport – with the Saudi government expected to end up with a controlling 60% shareholding – is seen by many as a sign that the runway project is dead.

Let’s take a step back though.

Heathrow Terminal 2 new baggage system

Terminal 2 was built on the cheap, compared to Terminal 5. When you are inside it doesn’t look cheap, which is a tribute to the architects and designers. To be fair, it was building on solid ground (T5 was a literally a brownfield site, built on a sewage treatment plant!) and didn’t require extensive new road connections or (as happened with T5) the diversion of two rivers. T5 remains the largest free-standing structure in the UK.

One way money was saved, however, was by not building a baggage handling system. When Terminal 1 was closed, the baggage handling system was kept open. When you check in a bag at Terminal 2, it goes off to the derelict T1 for processing. The baggage handling system in Terminal 1 is now 30 years old.

What has Heathrow agreed?

A contract has been signed with BEUMER Group to construct a ‘state-of-the-art’ replacement baggage system in Terminal 2.

BEUMER has a lot of experience at Heathrow, and was responsible for the design, installation and commissioning of the existing conveyor system between Terminal 2 and Terminal 1.

Heathrow Terminal 1

Once the new system is open, Terminal 1 can finally be demolished. The empty shell has been sitting there since June 2015 when flights ceased.

With Terminal 1 gone, work can begin on the extension of Terminal 2. The main building was designed with the extension in mind and this should be a relatively straightforward job. This would also enable the eventual demolition of Terminal 3 and the addition of further satellite terminals to create a pure ‘toast rack’ layout across the airport.

When will this happen?

The full timetable isn’t not clear. BEUMER Group is talking of a ‘six year project‘, which Heathrow confirmed to us is just the time taken to get the new baggage system operational.

That seems long for what is ‘just’ a baggage project – remember that Terminal 2 itself took less than that to build. I am told that the time required is due to the complexity of the project, which requires the new system be built whilst the terminal continues to rely on the old one before the eventual switch-over.

This means that we are looking at 2030 before any work starts on demolishing Terminal 1 and construction work on the extension of Terminal 2 can begin. It’s something for your kids to look forward to though …..

Category

General

Comments (95)

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

  • BJ says:
    22 Dec22 December 04:10

    Hopefully it’ll be more ‘state-of-the-art’ than T5, just maybe after 6 years they can avoid the baggage fiascos at T5.

    • JDB says:
      22 Dec22 December 07:17

      What baggage fiascos at T5?

      • BJ says:
        22 Dec22 December 07:22

        Just google the news JDB, dating right back to opening.

        • JDB says:
          22 Dec22 December 08:28

          That was the opening 15 years ago! There was no BRF then. Other airport openings have experienced similar issues. Today it works very well. There is no “fiasco”!

      • Ken says:
        22 Dec22 December 08:26

        Even the most blinkered defenders of BA and Heathrow couldn’t describe the opening weeks in 2008 as a success.

        • BA Flyer IHG Stayer says:
          22 Dec22 December 08:36

          I don’t think anyone is.

          But whilst three have been issues it’s hardly the abject failure BJ tries to make out it is,

          • BJ says:
            22 Dec22 December 08:56

            I was referring to the opening but unless I’m mistaken there have been other major baggage handling issues at T5/LHR. I was not suggesting such issues are unique to LHR as thdy are clearly not.

        • Michael Jennings says:
          22 Dec22 December 18:22

          Heathrow botched the opening of T5 in 2008, but it was teething difficulties (and a mistaken decision to open the whole terminal on day 1 rather than a gradual opening transferring a few flights at a time). It wasn’t;t anything fundamentally wrong with the terminal and was fixed in a couple of months. Compared with the debacles at (say) Berlin or (slightly further back) Denver, it wasn’t anything serious.

          • BJ says:
            23 Dec23 December 01:22

            O think those caught up in it would agree that it’s ot serious. Still, like most airports it functions well most of the time. I just don’t like T5, the design is a dated shambles IMO and the experience for domestic connecting pax (particularly in the way back into the UK) is not a pleasant one.

          • Alastair says:
            23 Dec23 December 16:26

            T5 didn’t open with the full complement of flights, many long hauls remained at T4 initially as did a bunch of services in T1. They moved over in October 2008 IIRC.

          • Alex Sm says:
            24 Dec24 December 08:03

            PR people always describe failures or blunders as “teething difficulties”. Why did they do so many trials and tests (I took part in one) but didn’t learn from them? And why do airports in Asia and other parts of the world open and work while in the UK there is always a flop… 🛩️

      • JDB says:
        22 Dec22 December 08:56

        @Tom – the issues are nothing to do with the airport systems. They are BA issues. The implication of the post was that the OP hoped the T2 system would work better than the T5 one. That system works extremely well. The pile up of luggage photographed in papers wasn’t even a BA, it was all the other airlines dumping luggage on BA to sort out; the privilege of LHR being BA’s home means they get to sort out other airlines’ problems.

        • BJ says:
          22 Dec22 December 09:20

          Baggae systems at almost all airports work extremely well most of the time, something of a marvel really if we stop to think about it given the demands and complexity of such systems. The implication of my OP was largely that the opening issues might be avoided. I’m not convinced of the value of apportioning blame, at the end of the day all users of airports havd to pull together with the airport operstors to ensure things run smoothly. Again, this is sonetning they do at most airports most of the time remarkably well.

      • BJ says:
        22 Dec22 December 09:01

        Thanks @Tom, I was sure there had been others too but could not recall when.

  • Si says:
    22 Dec22 December 07:23

    One way they made T2 cheaper is by shrinking the grid (space between each support column) this makes fitting the baggage system in far more complex.

  • elguiri says:
    22 Dec22 December 07:27

    So are they using Ocado/Amazon’s robot pickers to take the bags off planes and onto the right belt? Less chance of strikes affecting flights then…

    • BJ says:
      22 Dec22 December 09:24

      Easiest way to avoid strikes is to make workers feel valued and pay them a real living wage for their efforts.

      • Harry T says:
        22 Dec22 December 10:44

        Amen BJ!

      • Mike says:
        22 Dec22 December 12:37

        The easiest way to pay staff more is to reduce the downward pressure on wages at the bottom caused by an ever (artificially) increasing population.

        • Rhys says:
          22 Dec22 December 13:17

          Sadly, that leaves no one to pay the taxes to fund your pension and health care!

          • BJ says:
            23 Dec23 December 01:38

            I cannot comment on your sources other than I’m sceptical with your main point. I agree with @Rhys and despite having little understanding if economics it does seem absolutely preposterous to me that we can meaningfully grow the UK economy fro where we are at now while at the same time trying to massively reduce net migration. As Rob points out below we are already effectively at the point of zero unemployment. One way this is evidenced in the real world are stories I hear from volunteer friends of the enormous pressure many mothers of pre-school children are facing to take up employment despite finding it next to impossible to find childcare by family or professionals.

          • Will says:
            24 Dec24 December 14:19

            Annual land value tax resolves that issue.
            Very questionable as to whether or not a large quantity of below average paid people is a contribution to the economy in general.
            What we do know is that during a huge amount of A8 migration the government has had to borrow large amounts almost every single year in order to maintain a level of services that most people regard as poor and declining.

        • Rob says:
          22 Dec22 December 13:24

          You are aware that there is effectively zero unemployment in the UK? The biggest problem is people who are walking away from work in their early 50s. I am relatively rare amongst my peer group in still actually working full time, albeit with the benefits that come from running your own show. My brother (late 40s) paid £33,000 for a big house 25 years ago and even on an NHS physio salary is able to afford to think about walking away and doing something more interesting with his life.

          • TooPoorToBeHere says:
            22 Dec22 December 14:37

            Well said, sir.

            The quality of applicants we’re getting through the recruitment pipeline, for 6-digit money with no “must live in London” requirement, is shocking.

            In lower level roles, “consistently turning up on time and doing approximately what you’re asked” makes an applicant top 10%.

          • Charles Martel says:
            22 Dec22 December 17:15

            Scarcity of labour generally drives productivity growth through the introduction of innovative technological solutions. We’ve reduced the incentive for that by caving into demands for more labour (through migration).

          • Londonsteve says:
            23 Dec23 December 13:59

            The property/housing market in general has massively skewed things and created a class of asset rich who don’t need to work for a living anymore, versus people who’d like to work for a living, but have nowhere to live. I’m in the latter camp, shortly forced to leave the UK entirely because of the extreme cost of housing. So, those artificially enriched by the property market don’t work because there’s little incentive to while those, like myself who would gladly accept a job with a decent salary, cannot afford to live within a reasonable travelling distance of the employer. My sole hope is now remote work undertaken from overseas with periodic visits to the UK, as and when required. Granted, the situation is different in the top 10% of jobs that pay enough to enable the employee to simply pay their way out of the housing crisis but for everyone else, it’s an impasse.

          • Alex Sm says:
            24 Dec24 December 08:09

            That’s such a first world problem! And if people can afford it, why not? And they still pay their taxes 💷

    • BA Flyer IHG Stayer says:
      22 Dec22 December 14:10

      Have you seen the baggage holds of planes?

      They aren’t the neat and tidy pallets of tins and packets robots can pick up in a food warehouse that you think they are.

      • Charles Martel says:
        22 Dec22 December 18:13

        Of course but our whole economy isn’t based around baggage handling. An abundance of labour means there has been no incentive to develop or implement systems that reduce labour requirements in any sector of the economy.

  • Richie says:
    22 Dec22 December 08:22

    Are ‘toast rack’ terminal buildings the better choice? Non ‘toast rack’ terminal buildings like BCN T1 seem to work better.

    • Rhys says:
      22 Dec22 December 09:11

      I believe toast racks are the most efficient use of space in terms of maximising the number of airplane gates. You can fit a lot of planes in a relatively small space. It also means you are centralising a lot of the core services – checkin, bag drop, security, immigration etc which should be more efficient as well.

      • ADS says:
        22 Dec22 December 10:19

        delighted that “toast rack” was included in the article – it’s a great phrase!

        the TR design particularly relevant for two runway airports

        • Richie says:
          22 Dec22 December 10:43

          The Hollings Building in Manchester was completed in 1960, L C Howitt and their team probably had the idea in the 50s.

      • Paul says:
        22 Dec22 December 12:37

        The Toast rack layout as T5 is laid out means you have no cul-de-sacs which restrict departures and arrivals depending on what else is coming in and out. The double taxi ways allow for easier ATC control. In theory every single departure from T5A east gates to push back simultaneously without any impact on arrivals on T5B west. It was a huge improvement on the V cul-de-sac in T4 where Concorde departed from. T4 had 2 cul-de-sacs and T3 still has them. In any space constrained and congested, twin runway airport it is the only sensible design and there were artist impressions dating back to the 1990’s show this proposal in full

    • Phillip says:
      22 Dec22 December 09:27

      It’s not just about the movement of planes. The toast-rack system is considered better when it comes to things like de-icing and subsequent removal of the chemical contaminants used which LHR has to clean up and process. During the last bout of expansion plans, they were proposing a full toast-rack system and a renaming of the terminals to East and West but that idea went out the window as, I imagine, it was far too simplistic.

      • Richie says:
        22 Dec22 December 09:48

        Thanks for the interesting points. Any good examples of toast rack airports with more than 3 toast slots would be appreciated.

        • RT77 says:
          22 Dec22 December 10:06

          ATL (Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport) is a good example (in my book at least)

          • Richie says:
            22 Dec22 December 10:31

            Thanks, I’ve never been to ATL. 5 toast slots surrounded by runways and roads, good example.

          • ianM says:
            22 Dec22 December 10:39

            ATL works well for domestic, but if you are arriving international, you need to get a bus to domestic to continue your journey or pick up a rental car!

      • riku says:
        22 Dec22 December 10:35

        from a de-icing point of view the most efficient is to de-ice the planes in a separate area where planes stop on the way to the runway, such as at Helsinki airport. Then the de-icing machines are not driving from gate to gate and the runoff being cleaned up around each gate area.

      • Paul says:
        22 Dec22 December 12:39

        Heathrow has at last developed a dedicated deicing area which reduces/eliminates deicing on stand.

    • Alex G says:
      22 Dec22 December 11:58

      The “mobile lounges” were still in use at DUL (DC) last year when I flew in on an A380. Seem to remember there was still a long walk to immigration though.

    • ADS says:
      22 Dec22 December 14:11

      I experienced them at Dulles a good few years ago – I still remember them being seriously unpleasant – too full, not enough seats and too hot.

      Give me a walk any day over that experience!

  • insider says:
    22 Dec22 December 08:32

    Whilst obviously not that simple, 6 years is a bit of a joke, but to be expected with how Heathrow functions and is regulated by the CAA. Expect the project to be delayed and over-budget, a nice chunk to sit on the regulated asset base with a healthy return into perpetuity!

    • JDB says:
      22 Dec22 December 09:00

      How ridiculous! T2 was built on time and on budget. Which of the many HAL projects do you say were late/over budget. In the event there were any delay/cost issues, it doesn’t benefit the company in the way you suggest. It’s also totally incorrect to suggest that the regulator and particularly airlines don’t scrutinise every penny spent at every stage.

      • HH says:
        22 Dec22 December 09:11

        The argumentative tone of certain prolific commenters on this site is making every comments section unpleasant to read, and I would urge them to reflect on their unproductive / off-putting approach.

        • BA Flyer IHG Stayer says:
          22 Dec22 December 09:36

          How is JDBs comment “unproductive” let alone “unpleasant” or “argumentative”

          At lease he’s putting forward his view and knowledge on the topic rather than just complaining about the writing style of other peoples posts!

          • HH says:
            22 Dec22 December 10:24

            It’s unproductive because while they’re usually making a valid point in their replies, they deliver it in a strongly-worded, almost mocking way that either deters the OP from engaging or generates a terse response (see also the first comment chain above).

            It’s unpleasant and argumentative by virtue of the derisive language used – read their comments aloud and ask yourself if that’s an acceptable tone you’d take when disagreeing with any stranger or acquaintance.

          • BA Flyer IHG Stayer says:
            22 Dec22 December 10:56

            To be honest HH I’d rather have JDBs terse contributions than some of the wishy washy responses from some posters.

            And at least he is addressing the topic at hand which is more than you are doing.

          • BJ says:
            22 Dec22 December 14:46

            @HH, just to be clear I have never had any problem whatsoever with the content of tone of @JDBs comments or replies. He has always been very helpful to me and many others. Whether he is absolutely correct (and he himself often makes it clear when he is less certain) or whether I and others always agree with him is of little importance. None of us are right all the time and the vomments and forums are richer for fifferences in opinion. As far as the nature of some of my own comments go I’m aware that some like them while others don’t. So be it, I’ve never had any problem with people expressing their opinion whatever they might be, and I expect the same courtesy. I have never set out to hurt anyone in any sense with my comments and I am sorry if sone has taken any of them in this way. Whether anybody likes the nature of my original post this morning, the fact remains that it did provoke some on-topic discussion of baggage handling issues at LHR and other airports which is the purpose of the commentd sections.

        • dougzz99 says:
          22 Dec22 December 09:39

          Nonsense. I’ll take any of his posts over the good morning from …. twaddle the chat thread frequently descends into. I just ignore and move on. Nature of the Internet.

      • LittleNick says:
        22 Dec22 December 09:13

        6 years is ridiculous when China can Build a whole new airport in Beijing in 5 years!

        • dougzz99 says:
          22 Dec22 December 09:37

          Democracy and the rule of law can be real constraints.

          • Paul says:
            22 Dec22 December 12:41

            What democracy? We operate a first past the post electoral system which only Belarus replicates. Giving a political party a majority in back of 43% of vote is not democracy!

        • BA Flyer IHG Stayer says:
          22 Dec22 December 09:38

          Much easier to build on a clear site and you also don’t need to keep other operations going at the same time.

          Retro fitting is always much harder

    • Phillip says:
      23 Dec23 December 11:34

      I know people have always doubted the 3rd runway, but 6 years may also have something to do with the longer term plans for the airport. The timeline for a “new Heathrow” is still looking to 2051 as a completion year… whatever completion looks like! And of course there’s no guarantee of it sticking!

  • Eddie Manning says:
    22 Dec22 December 08:36

    As a regular user of T2 as a passenger and T5 meeting passengers, the differences in baggage handling are night and day. At T2 bags are always on the belt by the time I get there after walk from the gate. This is amazing if they are being handled by T1 systems. As for T5 it frequently takes up to one hour from plane at gate to baggage on belt. Is that down to baggage system or BA staffing? I’d choose T2 every time.

    • George K says:
      22 Dec22 December 08:59

      I’m with you. T2 is the better terminal all around

    • JDB says:
      22 Dec22 December 09:02

      BA handles its own baggage at T5. Delay in delivery is nothing to do with systems. Iberia hates being stuck with BA as its handlers.

    • Rhys says:
      22 Dec22 December 09:13

      My understanding is that the delay is usually getting the bags off the plane, not the baggage system itself. There were some real staffing issues with the below wing teams which meant that planes weren’t getting unloaded quickly.

    • BJ says:
      22 Dec22 December 09:34

      This is partly why I changed to HBO, on shorthaul flights I became increasingly frustrated with time taken to collect baggage relative to flight duration.

    • John says:
      22 Dec22 December 10:35

      Unless you arrive directly into the T2 baggage hall from a nearby (100m) common travel area gate, in which case bags seem to take an inordinate amount of time to come through — often in fits and starts.

    • Lady London says:
      22 Dec22 December 13:28

      T5 I’ve had a high rate of baggage not arriving on the same plane as me over the years since T5 inception particularly when connecting via T5.

      I agree with BJ there have been persistently recurring, problems with luggage at T5 since it opened. Not as bad as Berlin, but always something to bear in mind

  • Jetset Boyz says:
    22 Dec22 December 08:50

    “Once the new system is open, Terminal 1 can finally be demolished.”

    Not quite – there are various critical airport systems housed in T1, these also need to be relocated. Only once that’s also been completed can work start on demolishing T1.

  • Novelty-Socks says:
    22 Dec22 December 09:08

    “T5 remains the largest free-standing structure in the UK.”

    Now that’s got me wondering what non-freestanding structure is bigger! World’s biggest terraced house, maybe?

    Excellent Christmas trivia…

    • Stu_N says:
      22 Dec22 December 09:54

      O2 Arena in Greenwich (a.k.a. Millenium Dome) apparently. It is mast-stayed so prob doesn’t count as free standing.

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