British airways’ t5 switch the ‘biggest airport move in uk aviation history’
The biggest airport move in UK aviation history takes place this week as British Airways - the UK’s flagship carrier which operates 55 weekly services from the GCC to London Heathrow - undertakes the unprecedented logistical challenge of relocating more than 1,000 ground vehicles, aircraft and items of support equipment to its new home at Heathrow’s Terminal 5.
Between 11pm on March 26 and 4am on March 27, the airline has to move most of its Heathrow equipment up to three miles from one end of the airfield to the other without disturbing the flight schedule of the world’s busiest international airport.
Heathrow’s southern runway will be closed for these five hours, while a convoy of more than 1,000 vehicles and pieces of equipment are driven from Terminals 1 and 4 to Terminal 5.
Such a time-limited move of this magnitude has never taken place before at any UK airport, let alone at the country’s global hub.
More than 2,500 Heathrow based customer service and baggage staff will also overnight change the terminal they work in. A further 3,000 staff will move from Terminal 4 into Terminal 5 on April 30.
Up to 13,000 Heathrow based cabin crew and 2,800 pilots will move into a new crew reporting centre within Terminal 5 from May 1.
British Airways’ planners are consulting regular updates of wind and weather forecasts and reports from air traffic controllers so they can implement contingency arrangements to attempt to deal with every type of potential last-minute disruption.
Willie Walsh, British Airways’ chief executive, said: “This is an historic move for this airline and for UK aviation. Nothing on this scale has been attempted before.
“Everyone knows the exceptional congestion that Heathrow endures as the world’s busiest international airport. But we are relocating to a completely new terminal without requiring any kind of shutdown by the airport authorities.
“Heathrow will be operating at full capacity on March 26 from four terminals and again at full capacity on March 27 from five terminals. Putting up the ‘closed for business’ sign is not an option. This is a massive logistical exercise, which is without parallel.”
The convoy moving up to Terminal 5 includes: 27 shorthaul aircraft, 360 baggage trailers (help to move bags from baggage hall to aircraft side), 95 baggage tugs (pull the baggage trailers from baggage hall to aircraft side), 106 baggage elevators and conveyors (help to load bags from aircraft side into the hold), 240 cargo containers, 122 cars and vans, 16 ground power units, 22 sets of aircraft steps and 10 toilet servicing units.
The convoy will be moved by a team of 250 staff including up to 150 volunteers, especially trained for the overnight move.
All the aircraft and ground equipment will be moved initially from their normal overnight positions at Terminals 1 and 4 to nearby holding areas. When air traffic controllers give the go-ahead they will then be moved along the southern runway’s taxiways, to a second holding point close to Terminal 5.
From there, the equipment will be reallocated individually to the correct part of the Terminal 5 campus, which covers the size of Hyde Park.
British Airways' Middle East travellers will get their first taste of T5 on April 30 - when phase two of the opening takes place with flights transferring from T4.
Al Bawaba
