Having past through LHR T5 recently, I made a note what was operating and what has been stopped. This gives the situation as of 29 March 2020, I was quite surprised how much changed since my departure to the USA just over a week ago compared to my return yesterday.
General points
- All BA services now run from T5, along with a few Iberia services. No BA services operate from T3
- T5A and B are working, as are the transits. T5C is closed.
- Based on my experience LHR is quiet but by no means empty.
- There is little point in arriving early, getting through security takes seconds and there is little to do once airside.
Getting to / from LHR
Tube: working on an 8 minute service interval, now that T4 is closed - the T4 loop trains have been redeployed, so the service is now nearly normal.
Heathrow Express (HEX): short trains but running on a 30 minute interval
Buses (e.g. 423 and Night Buses): running as normal
National Express: running as normal, more or less. The staffed counter has been closed but the ticket machines are working. NEx services will close entirely from 6 April onwards, however.
Black taxis: available as usual
Uber: available as usual, assume a 10 minute wait time
Hotel Hoppa bus service: running but not necessarily to timetable
Car parks: open. The Pod is now closed.
Car hire: some are working, Europcar is staffed
Hotels
IHG, Marriott, Hilton and Accor have closed down online bookings for the Heathrow area, this accounts for over 90% of bedrooms in the Heathrow area.
However some hotels are open for those who book directly over the telephone with the front desk (not central reservations)
Sofitel is open on this basis The Sofitel is now closed 1 April 2020.
Hilton Garden Inn T2 and Hatton Cross are open for pre-booked reservations as is the DoubteTree in Bath Road. Online bookings are possible. The DT is often fairly well occupied, it has been sold out a few times. Of the 3 Hatton Cross is the most easy going, DT will email asking for travel confirmation. Most other LHR hotels expect to open on 1 or 4 or 7 July 2020.
Thistle is fully open, including room service hot food, and is available to book online. The Pod is still running. The Pod has been suspended, there is a bus service running to and from bus stop 28.
EDIT 22/4/20: The Thistle is still open for "key workers and Heathrow travellers" however bookings can no longer be done online for dates before 25 May 2020. You can call up the hotel and get a booking +44 80 0330 8086.
Landside
Open services include
- Marks and Spencer Arrivals:
fully stocked as far as I could tell, though sandwiches were less abundant than usual. Otherwise it was over 90% normal service I would say. Alcohol available. now closed
- WH Smith
- Boots: both arrivals and departure level, well stocked including wet wipes and hand sanitisers (the latter are kept behind the till)
-
Excess Baggage: both arrivals and departure
- Royal Mail post boxes in departures
- toilets
- ATMs (though some are out of service, there are plenty in service)
Closed
Marks and Spencer
All catering and cafés. So Giraffe, Costa,
Carluccio's, Caffè Nero, the George
Bradley Smith
Sofitel for non residents - open on a room only basis to those pre-booked there.
Travelex (but forex ATMs are working)
VAT Reclaim (drop box by Customs airside)
Check-in and departures
- All check is now consolidated to the central area
- Iberia checkin has moved to Zone D
- Longhaul or travel to countries with restrictions is Zone G
- First Wing - completely closed
- Club, First, Silver, Gold check-in = Zone H (or the end of G in the mornings).
- Special Assistance and Family check-in Zone G
- Bag drop and oversize = Zone G
The area is well staffed and plenty of BA ground staff are available to help, don't hesitate to ask.
Security
Only South Security is open for local passengers
North Security is used for staff security and Flight Connections (which is running as normal)
No Fast Track, or rather Fast Track is for everyone in that they have plenty of lines running and so no-one is queuing for more than a few seconds
Only 2 passengers can use a line, instead of the usual 4 passengers, the middle pair of tray fill areas are blocked
Shoes off for all passengers (to reduce the contact between passengers and security for non compliant shoes)
Passengers are asked to remove Personal Protective Equipment (with the exception of face masks) going through security. HAL, on their website, are discouraging the use of PPE.
There is a bank of hand sanitisers immediately before security.
Passengers need to wear face masks or face coverings during security. Face masks are available free of charge at the security checkpoints (this is contrary to the impression given by HAL's website).
Airside
All lounges closed, BA, Aspire and Premium Plaza
Concorde Room closed
Duty Free is closed.
All catering is now closed, including Starbucks, The Crown Rivers and Pilots. Food can be obtained from Boots and WH Smith only. This means there are no alcohol, hot food or hot drink options at all.
Shops open are Boots and WH Smith. Both have Meal Deal options going and between them a good selection of food to take away. Boots has a full range of products, including the pharmacy on the upper level. Hand sanitisers are for sale behind the till. The airside WH Smith open is on the lower departure level near A7, the Boots nearby is also open. The larger Boots by South Security is also open. There are no shops open at T5B.
Only BA Customer Service desk operating is the one by gate 13.
ATMs available and working
Royal Mail is still collecting post from the box by Hermes.
All toilets open
Moving walkways are all operating
Prayer Rooms open.
No staffed Travelex provision, just the forex ATMs.
There is no way to get alcohol airside, and you can only bring 100ml liquids through security. Presumably duty free bags from connecting services are still allowed but I haven't seen this happen.
Arriving into LHR
Arriving into LHR T5 is fairly close to normal. The transits are working, as are the e-passport gates.
Both exit areas to landside are open
Flight Connections operating as normal via North security
No retail sales in the arrival area, and no HEX sales there either
There are no systematic temperature checks, however some flights are being met by the Port Health Authority (PHA) staff.
The Senior Cabin Crew member will make an announcement about an hour before arrival into LHR asking for anyone with Covid-19 symptoms to make themselves known, so that the flight crew can contact the PHA.
Access into T5
Access is freely allowed however HAL is asking only travellers to enter the building, or those helping those travelling, between arrival at the building and the mobility assistance teams by Zone H. There is no systematic checking of this, but there are still plenty of police teams working the building and they would probably approach someone looking out of place.
For those who need mobility assistance, HAL are stressing their ability to meet people off tubes, trains, taxis etc. Use this email to ensure all is prepared in advance:
[email protected]