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as published in the Surrey Advertiser.

Q: With Terminal 5 opening at the end of the month, will the infamous ‘Heathrow hassle’ get any better?

A: They’ve spent six years and more than £4 billion on it, so one would hope so! The main difference, I expect, will be the speed of checking in and getting through security.

Q:  So, how will that work in practice?

A:  British Airways reckons and hopes that 80 per cent of passengers in Terminal Five, which is almost exclusively the BA terminal, will opt for self-service at check in. So there will be 96 self-service kiosks and more than 90 fast bag drops. Then there will be 54 standard check-in desks. But for the self-service you will get your boarding pass after typing in your Reservation Number and then drop your bags down a hoist. This cuts out the old baggage belt system and you will immediately proceed to ticket control. That will save you doubling back past the queue and going off to another control point. That should save you time, just as avoiding the dreaded queues for the old-fashioned check in desks.

Q:  But what about security once you have got your boarding pass from the kiosk and dropped off your bags?

A:  As a domestic passenger on internal flights, you will then have to give four fingerprints twice as part of the new biometric measures of security. First at ticket presentation, then at the boarding gate. For international travellers, you will move from ticket control to security which will have 20 lanes and machines to x-ray your hand luggage, coats and jackets.

Q:  What about international passengers and biometrics?

A:  They will just give their fingerprints the once on presentation of documents and tickets. The double security for internal flights is because domestic and international passengers will all be using Terminal 5, which is something new.

Q:  And what about the infrastructure for all the 30 million people using the terminal?  

A: There will be six platforms for trains arriving from all over the country underneath the main building (by 2010 there will be three buildings altogether). In addition there is a bus and coach station at the terminal and a car park for nearly 4,000 cars.  

Convention Travel is one of Surrey’s leading Business and Incentive Travel Specialists with 25 years experience.

www.conventiontravel.co.uk. Tel. 01483   304 184. E-m. jcarpenter@conventiontravel.co.uk