Of course, we’re talking about the new Terminal 2 building at Heathrow Airport! As from 4th June, anyone flying United Airlines to Heathrow will be setting foot in Terminal 2, nicknamed the ‘Queen’s Terminal’, and they’ll be stepping into a world of luxury, modernity, style, panache, oh and a plethora of top chefs!
For two weeks, United will have the terminal all to themselves; following that will be the arrival of Air Canada, Lufthansa, Air New Zealand, SAS, ANA and Singapore – all of whom are part of the Star Alliance group – and not forgetting Virgin Atlantic’s domestic branch – Little Red – and Aer Lingus.
For passengers, how to make a choice is going to be order of the day! Already in the plans is Heston Blumenthal’s eatery, then there’s a new restaurant that is the brainchild of four female star chefs (and respected authors of cookbooks!) called Gorgeous Kitchen (obviously!), plus an order-by-Twitter sushi bar… hmmm, taking our addiction to social media too far? I leave that up to you to decide!
And if you’re not hungry? Well, there’s a shopping lounge that’s quite a bit different and the first of its kind… it’s personalised, complete with staff on hand to fetch whatever merchandise you wish (as long as it’s available in T2, of course!) just for you to peruse, plus free facials and massages – could be useful in the face of potential opening day glitches or future delays!
This time round, Heathrow are showing more caution; there won’t be the fanfare that accompanied the opening of T5 in 2008, no official ceremony and despite its nickname, no royalty! By phasing in the launch, Heathrow managers are taking it a step at a time, focusing on solving any issues that always come when opening such a large project… a lesson learned! And you wonder why all this building at Heathrow has been going on? It’s all in an effort to ensure that the airport doesn’t lose out to European airports, particularly as the plans for a third runway have stalled because of environmentalist and neighbour opposition. And for travellers that pass through Heathrow? Well, I for one would much rather stroll through the ‘Queen’s Terminal’ than the previous 1950’s version!
By Oliver Derek