Heathrow Terminal 2 will have a soft launch tomorrow (June 4) as it aims to avoid the repeat of the mishaps which blighted the opening of Terminal 5 six years ago.
United Airlines will be the first carrier to move into the terminal, with the inaugural flight from Chicago due to land just before 6am.
In 2008, Heathrow Terminal 5 suffered a disastrous opening with flight delays, missing baggage and large queues. Mindful of this, T2 will be opened in a phased approach, and for the first three weeks operate at 10 per cent of its capacity, to sort out “the inevitable teething problems”.
T2 set for soft opening almost 60 years after the original terminal opened“Terminal 2 is the culmination of an £11 billion investment programme that has transformed Heathrow for passengers,” said Heathrow CEO John Holland-Kaye.
“Our measure of success is not everything running perfectly on day one – there will inevitably be things we can improve. Our real measure of success is whether Terminal 2 comes to be rated by passengers as one of the world’s best airport terminals for years to come.”
T2 named ‘The Queen’s Terminal’ will eventually be home to 26 airlines – 23 members of the Star Alliance as well as Aer Lingus, Germanwings and Virgin Atlantic Little Red.
Airlines will move into the new terminal in phases over the next six months. When fully occupied, T2 will have 332 daily flights to 54 global destinations.
United Airlines will be the first carrier to move into the new terminalTerminal 2 is made-up of 60 check-in gates and 66 self-check-in kiosks, 29 security lanes, 33 shops, 17 restaurants, more than 7,000 seats, 634 toilets and 42 water fountains.
By the end of the year T2 will be handling passengers at the rate of 15.8 million annually and it has been built to take up to 20 million.
In March Holland-Kaye admitted it would be difficult to provide the “perfect passenger experience” over the first few days at the new Heathrow Terminal 2.
“I don’t think anyone underestimates how big a challenge this opening is,” said Holland-Kaye. “The chances of a smooth opening are low but mitigation plans are in place.”