Originally Posted by
steview111
This has everything to do with T3 being full at peak periods of the day. Moving short haul into T3 and long haul (AA) into T5 addresses the imbalance at certain periods of the day - T3 is essentially empty overnight without BA short haul, and then full between 9am-1pm and in the evening. Virgin are also planning a larger operation at LHR than pre-Covid and T3 is/will be home to pre-C19 T4 residents Etihad, Westjet, Biman, Korean Air, Kenya Airways, Royal Brunei and Aeromexico, as well as Skyteam short haul.
If this was just to do with BA/AA being under one roof, then AA would've never moved back into T3 when it reopened. There's been plenty of space in T5 for the entire AA operation since March 2020.
Believe what you want but facts speak for themselves. BA will have a significantly larger operation in T3 and if capacity was the issue, then this wouldn’t be happening. Have a look at the BA schedule for T3 and you’ll see more short haul flights across almost every hour of the day. Once you add the long haul to this, BA will be the largest operator from T3.
AA moving back to T3 was in recognition that their operation was increasing as was BA plus a strategic move given the importance of LHR. Why give up space in a terminal that you will still need in long term?