Her Majesty The Queen To Open Heathrow Terminal 5 Today

Heathrow Terminal 5 is to be officially opened today by Her Majesty The Queen, despite yesterday's security breach that saw a man running into the path of an airliner.

The new brand new Terminal 5 is the culmination of 19 years planning and building work and has been finished on time and on budget. Despite todays official opening the terminal will not open for passenger transport until the 27th of March and is expected to see 30 million people pass through it every year.

Terminal 5, which will be exclusively for British Airways passengers, will be equipped with high-tech baggage systems, gormet restaurants and luxury shops. Most notable of the new outlets in the terminal is a brand new restaurant by celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay.

The Queen will be accompanied on her visit by the Duke of Edinburgh maintaining a long-term relationship with the airport. The Queen opened the Europa Building now known as Terminal 2 in 1955 and she and the rest of the Royal party will be met by the chairman of BAA Sir Nigel Rudd at the departures concourse. It is also expected that the Rt. Hon Ruth Kelly, Secretary of State for Transport, Rafael del Pino, Executive Chairman Grupo Ferrovial (the owner of BAA), and British Airways chairman Martin Broughton. will be in attendance.

Terminal 5 will see 60 new aircraft stands, rail links to London Underground, a Heathrow Express link, two new satellite buildings, and a new multi-storey car park amongst many other developments. All this has been achieved by a workforce of some 60,000 workers throught the construction phase and a total of 100 million man hours after work commenced in September 2002.

The new building will house fine names from the world of fashion such as Gucci and Prada however critics have voiced concerns that passengers should be moved through the airport more quickly and not encouraged to spend while they wait. BAA have stated that passengers require 'fancy' shops so this is what they have supplied.

The opening of this latest development at Heathrow Airport will go some way to easing an airport that is bursting at the seams with 67.3 million passengers using it every year. It is hoped that the largest indoor space in the UK will be as popular with airlines as with passengers.

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Published by: Jon Vickery