Terminal 5 at Heathrow has opened a new GBP340 million ($542.6 million) third part of the terminal, offering even more space and improved facilities.

The new satellite terminal, known as “T5 C”, provides additional capacity and will help to make sure that customers have an even smoother start or end to their journeys.

More than 70 million customers on over 500,000 flights have used Terminal 5 since it opened in March 2008 and the facility has helped British Airways to achieve record levels of punctuality, baggage performance and the airline’s highest ever customer satisfaction scores, a statement said.

With the opening of T5 C, an extra three million customers each year, will be able to walk directly on or off their aircraft by using a covered “air bridge” linked to the terminal building, rather than having to use a bus.

The new satellite terminal has 12 boarding gates, of which eight are triple bridges designed to cater for the new 12 strong fleet of Airbus A380 aircraft joining British Airways from early 2013.

Situated closer to the other terminals at Heathrow, T5 C will give British Airways greater flexibility in how it manages its 4,000 flights a week at the world’s busiest international airport. A new dedicated transfer baggage tunnel linking T5 C and Terminal 3, due to open in 2012 will further improve baggage performance for all airlines at the airport.

The T5C satellite is linked to the rest of Terminal 5 by the existing underground transit system, with journeys taking just over a minute. The building also has a range of shops for last minute purchases before customers board their aircraft. – TradeArabia News Service