Heathrow's £4.3 billion Terminal 5 opens

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Watch our Terminal 5 video reports

	Click for video	Problems far from over at Heathrow airport as delays and lost baggage problems continue
	Click for video	Watch our special live programme on the historic opening of Heathrow’s Terminal 5.
	Click for video	Terminal 5 chaos on launch day as flights cancelled and baggage system fails
	Click for video	Third runway and more expansion plans for Heathrow
	Click for video	We look at how T5 was built and how Heathrow has developed from a row of tents.
	Click for video	Regional airports throughout the Thames Valley all plan to expand, to cope with demand.
	Click for video	Baggage and flight delays mar T5 launch
	Click for video	Hampshire captain makes T5 history
	Click for video	Queen opens new Terminal Five at Heathrow
	Click for video	Man arrested after running on to Heathrow runway
	Click for video	Heathrow protest hits Parliament
	Click for video	Volunteers check out Heathrow T5’s new facilities
	Click for video	Terminal five behind the scenes
	Click for video	Heathrow Airport: Improvement plans

What's it all about?
The Queen officially opened the £4.3 billion Heathrow Terminal 5 on Friday 14 March but the new terminal opens to the public - up to 30 million passengers a year - on 27 March.
  
The terminal, with British Airways as sole airline occupant, aims to offer passengers a simple and stress-free experience through online check-in and fast bag drop facilities, with the benefit of state-of-the-art security and baggage facilities.
 
Some 60,000 people have worked a total of 100 million man hours to build Terminal 5, since construction work began in September 2002.
 
Size matters
The Terminal 5 project team has successfully erected the UK’s biggest free-standing building; moved the 900-tonne top cab of a new 87m high control tower 2km across the airfield; tunnelled over 13km for rail and baggage links; diverted two rivers; and installed over 30,000 sq metres of glass building facades. All Terminal 5’s footprint is contained within a former sludge works at the western end of the existing airport, situated between the two runways, adjacent to the M25.
 
The Terminal 5 complex features 60 new aircraft stands; two satellite buildings, the second of which (phase 2)  will be completed by 2010; rail links to London Underground and Heathrow Express; a new multi-storey car park; and extensive landscaping.
 
Designed by 2006 Stirling Prize winner Rogers Stirk Harbour and Partners, the building’s design meets the needs of the passenger from the moment they arrive at the airport to boarding their aircraft. It offers space, convenience, comfort and spectacular views across the airfield for virtually every step of the passenger’s journey.
  
Some facts and figures about Terminal 5
Cost: £4.3bn
Construction: September 2002 to March 2008
Number of passengers annually: 30 million
 
Phase 1: opening 2008 Terminal 5A and B
50 aircraft stands (total)
 
Phase 2: opening 2010 Terminal 5C
60 aircraft stands (total)
 
Terminal 5A dimensions: 396m long x 176m wide x 40m high
Levels above ground: 4
 
Terminal 5B dimensions: 442m long x 52m wide x 19.5m high
Levels above ground: 3
 
Multi-storey car park: 3,800 spaces
Sofitel London Heathrow Hotel:  605 rooms (opens June)
 
Rail links: Heathrow Express
London Underground Piccadilly Line