Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

BA delays long-haul flights' move to T5

Danny Fortson,Business Correspondent
Saturday 12 April 2008 00:00 BST
Comments

Your support helps us to tell the story

This election is still a dead heat, according to most polls. In a fight with such wafer-thin margins, we need reporters on the ground talking to the people Trump and Harris are courting. Your support allows us to keep sending journalists to the story.

The Independent is trusted by 27 million Americans from across the entire political spectrum every month. Unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock you out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. But quality journalism must still be paid for.

Help us keep bring these critical stories to light. Your support makes all the difference.

British Airways has delayed moving its long-haul flights to Heathrow's Terminal 5 by at least five weeks, admitting yesterday that it needs time to work out the kinks after the new hub's disastrous opening last month.

Willie Walsh, the chief executive, said he needs the extra time to avoid the "staff familiarisation issues" that the carrier blamed for problems that caused 600 flights to be cancelled and thousands of bags lost or delayed in the terminal's first days of operation. The airline originally planned to move its long-haul flights from Terminal 4 to the new terminal on 30 April. That will not happen until 5 June, and could be pushed back further.

Mr Walsh said: "There are remaining issues that need to be worked out, with the baggage system, with staff familiarity, so we thought this was a reasonable thing to do. We want to get all of these things completely sorted out before we double the number of passengers going through the building."

He said BAA, the airport operator responsible for the baggage system that shut down at the height of the chaos, also had residual problems to address. It was not until Tuesday last week, nearly two weeks after its much-ballyhooed opening, that BA operated a full schedule of flights from Terminal 5.

The announcement infuriated other airlines, which could see plans to move into the space vacated by BA delayed. Nigel Turner, the chief executive of BMI, called the move – presented by fiat by BA and BAA after more than 50 airlines had been consulted on the previous plan – "outrageous" and said that legal action was possible.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in