Wednesday the fourth of June was the Official opening of Heathrow’s new Terminal two. The first passengers to use the terminal landed on a United Airline at 5.49 BST. The passengers who were from Chicago were greeted by the airports staff who were in beefeater costumes. The first flight had 178 passengers and 11 crew members. The new Terminal 2 is a replacement for the first passenger terminal that was opened by the Queen in 1955. Terminal 2 will go by the name of “Queens Terminal.”
The terminal will however be opened in phases to avoid a scenario like the 2008 opening of Terminal 5. Back then, it was obvious that London Airport was overwhelmed by computer and baggage systems. A spokesperson from the airport confirmed that only 34 flights will land on the first day of its launch, which will be an average of 6000 passengers passing through the queens terminal on the first day.
With time there will be 330 flights landing and departing every day. The Terminal will operate with one airline for a couple of months before the other 25 airlines join them in operations. Queens Terminal has 29 security lanes and 60 check- in gates. There are also 33shops, 66 kiosks and 17 restaurants.
John Holland Kaye, a development director at Heathrow said that the magnificent Terminal is a product of an £11 Billion investment programme. He added that their goal was to tranform passenger experience and he hopes that in future years it will be rated as one of the best Terminals in the world by passengers passing through Heathrow.
This Opening comes at a time when rail workers at heathrow Express are on strike. The workers are protesting plans by Express company to save £6 million, saying that the plan will jeopardise over 200 jobs.