Chaos at BA's new terminal at London Heathrow

I'm sure you've already read this in the news, but just in case you haven't, and you're travelling this weekend, here's a warning.

BA opened their new terminal today (T5) only to have one of the luggage belts break down, causing chaos for 70,000 passengers. Bags were packed into the wrong planes, flights delayed as they unloaded and loaded the right luggage. Due to other 'teething problems' at T5, flights were even cancelled to Munich, Paris and other European destinations.

As a result, BA stopped accepting luggage for the hold. That's right - today passengers could only fly with their hand luggage. This must have been awful for those going to the States for 2 weeks, or tourists trying to fly back home from London, or families travelling with babies who need supplies, for example.

My advise to you is to check with BA by looking at their site (www.ba.com) for an update, or give them a call (+44800727800).

News stories:
BA site
BBC
Reuters

New Terminal, Same Old problems... The best travel advise you could ever give anybody is to avoid Heathrow like the plague.
I even pay extra for flight to avoid having to xfer there.

I don't recall any problems this big with the opening of MUC T2. Do BAA not test all the new systems for months before they
put them into production? If they had live trials they would have found these problems before opening day.

Crazy. I was watching a programme on tv just last night about this new terminal opening, and the "biggest challenge" was dealing with all the luggage. They told of some live trial they did with thousands of bags on the conveyer belt system and it worked perfectly.

British engineering in the modern age = bound to break down.

Only thousands? How man thousands? They keep reporting that the system should be up to handling over 12k bags per hour.
If they only tested with a few thousand, no wonder they didn't find and problems. They didn't stress/test it at full capacity.

ha! Says the guy graduating in a few months with an engineering degree from the UK. Don't let your future employers hear you say that.

It wouldn't happen in Germany... BA and BAA are not giving interviews this morning, which I heard on Radio 4, so it appears to everyone they've gone into a sulk.

not comparing like for like. H is many times bigger than Munich and handles a much larger number of flights and people. Doesn't excuse the chaos though.

Sky news reports that all flights from this terminal are cancelled for today

Yes, all domestic and short haul. What an embarrassment, this will cost BA a fortune in compensation and then they'll sue BAA, what fun. And talking of fun, Radio 4 have just said that as BA/BAA won't talk to them today they'll talk to 'someone from Ryanair' about T5. O'Leary no doubt volunteered his opinions and it should be good fun...

How on earth can that terminal cost 4.3 billion pounds.

The trial run was under German supervision and worked out just fine - except for the English volunteers who brought their own luggage along although Heathrow had test lugguge and were upset because they couldn't get it back.

British engineering in the modern age = outsourced

Vanderlande Industries, a Dutch company


@DK, 14,000. Don't know over what period of time, though.
Heathrow T5 Checks In Early

BA have cancelled 20% of their flights today, hitting domestic and short haul routes. They are offering a full refund or to rebook you. Still unsure whether the baggage problem has been solved, will report back later!

Latest News.

Oh dear, I have just received this email from BA Executive club:

QUOTE

Five and a half years ago the building of our new home began in our most visionary project to date. Today we opened the doors. There is no more waiting... Terminal 5 welcomes you.

At Terminal 5 everything has been streamlined and designed to make your journey through the terminal calm and relaxed. And this morning we saw all the planning fall into place.

The next time you fly in to, or on from Terminal 5, you'll experience for yourself how all the planning and careful design has fallen into place. The arrivals Gates are conveniently located to minimise your walk from the plane and if you're transferring to another flight, Flight Connections is so smooth, you'll be through in 20* minutes.

A state-of-the-art baggage system, a shopping concourse that rivals London's West End, and an array of tempting restaurants, bars and cafés to choose from, you'll discover nothing has been overlooked to en sure your time at Terminal 5 is spent in a most relaxing and enjoyable way.

As a new measure to aid the smooth running of the terminal and avoid delays, when you depart from Terminal 5 you must pass through ticket presentation and Security and be ready to fly at least 35 minutes before your flight departs or you won't be allowed onto your flight. If you are travelling with hand luggage only, you may also need to pass through Passport and Visa Check. For other important information, please take some time to click on the button below for a handy guide to travelling calmly through Terminal 5!

From the gallery on the Daily Telegraph today:

Who paid the 4.3 billion pounds to build the place?

Tax payer or BAA?

Haha.

They better get sorted in time for my flight, else... I'll be in a bad mood all day.

The sign maybe wrong..

It should say "Welcome to 'YOUR' new home"...

I think that's how the photographer meant it

..reminded me of the problems with the baggage at the Denver airport:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denver_International_Airport :
"In April 1994, the city invited reporters to observe the first test of the new automated baggage system. Reporters were treated to scenes of clothing and other personal effects scattered beneath the system's tracks, while the actuators that moved luggage from belt to belt would often toss the luggage right off the system instead. The mayor cancelled the planned May 15 opening. The baggage system continued to be a maintenance hassle and was finally terminated in September 2005 [9], with traditional baggage handlers manually handling cargo and passenger luggage."

I think BA will be able to fix it in less then 10 years.

No wonder the DEN baggage system was so fucked up.
It was designed, installed and maintained by BAE.

So I guess the previous post was correct. UK planning/engineering = crap

@Darkknight: France and the UK are planning new nuclear power plants.
Do we have to worry about this?

What do you think