BA confirms June start for next phase of T5
09.05.08
British Airways will begin to move its long-haul flights to Heathrow's Terminal 5 from 5 June, the airline has confirmed. Eight long-haul flights, including services to New York, will move from Terminal 4 to T5 on that day. The decision was made jointly by BA and Heathrow airport operator BAA.
The other seven destinations for which flights will be transferred on June 5 are Bangalore, Beijing, Cairo, Cape Town, Lagos, Phoenix and Abuja in Nigeria. BA chief executive Willie Walsh said the rest of the long haul flights will be transferred in phases to the new terminal.
Mr Walsh said: ‘As we announced on April 11, we will move our Terminal 4 long-haul programme into Terminal 5 in phases. We have taken this decision in the interests of customers, who remain our priority at all times. T5 is now working well, and we are pleased we can confirm our plan to move in some additional flights on June 5.’
BAA chief executive Colin Matthews said: ‘I am pleased that we have reached this decision jointly. BAA and BA have worked together effectively to resolve the initial problems at T5, and to plan this next move. We continue to work together intensively to complete the migration of the remaining long haul services as soon as is practicable.’
The June 5 transfers account for about a quarter of BA's Terminal 4 schedule. The airline had originally planned to transfer all of its long haul flights to the new terminal on April 30, but delayed this after the problems encountered when T5 opened.
One consequence of the delay in transferring BA's long-haul flights is the knock-on effect to rival carriers, including Air France and Delta, which were scheduled to move into Terminal 4 once BA had gone.
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