I’ve just returned from holiday where I had my first experience with Heathrow’s new Terminal 5. And my experience just so happened to coincide with the launch of British Airway’s latest ad campaign: “T5 is working”. Describing the opening of T5 as troublesome would be an understatement (note: see our blog post about T5 for a taste of customer sentiment at the time), but this latest campaign is indicative of BA’s confidence that the new terminal is starting to deliver on those initially very high expectiations.
Well I’m pleased to announce that my recent experience was faultless. The building itself was immaculate and the process from self-checkin to luggage drop-off to going through security and finally making my way to the gate (via a bit of shopping) was as efficient and stress-free as one would hope it to be. Unfortunately, I didn’t get as much time browsing the shops as I would like (I was running late as usual) but I can tell you that the impressive array of shops available makes it well worth taking the time to get there early.
Arriving back into T5 was equally pain-free. There was absolutely no delays in landing and parking up at the gate. And I don’t think I’m being generous when I say that the time from departing the plane to making my way through passport control and collecting my luggage took little longer than 20 minutes. Certainly my experience was a good one.
Of course my experience is that of just one person and maybe I was just lucky! With this in mind I would love to hear from any other customers who have experienced T5 over the past month or two. Was your experience similar to mine? Do you agree with BA that “T5 is working”? Or have you had a differing experience? And for all those Exec Club members – please let us know what the lounges are like (I’m not privileged enough to be let in!)!
