MiraculousM

I thought they did the third thing already.

Maybe, give the gate no to the general public and let the lounge people come later heheh

MiraculousM

No way. Terminal two for the average, none status user is terrible. Not enough places to get food, and the walk to the long haul united gates recently was utterly awful. I could not understand why they were all the way out there.

Frequent flyer 101

Clean it. Seriously, there is dust everywhere. Especially inside the clear elevator shafts.

jdsworld

How/why would removing Aer Lingus improve things in T2?

jdsworld

Agreed, I'm a frequent user of T2 as my parents live in Cork, needs a Pret at least. So many times I've left work, arrived at T2 starving but felt meh by the food options (I don't have EI status).

Thankfully EI always use the A gates to I'm spared the walk - the Irish media has always said EI was given a good spot in the new T2 to make up for the many years of the long walk needed to reach the Irish gates in the old T1.

go_around

Make T5 look Christmassy over the Christmas period...

Geordie405

Flight Connections / Immigration and Security need a radical overhaul. That is the one part of the LHR T5 experience that I dread when connecting. Having more than just one or two immigration officers working at the UK border would be a big help (although some of the frustration here will be eased when US passport holders can use the e-gates later this year) and improving the efficiency of the security check and the attitude of the staff there would also be a godsend. I appreciate it's a tough job but the amount of bad attitude and - in my view - a deliberate "go slow" when finding liquids etc. in bags is unacceptable.

I am not sure whether logistically it is feasible to have a system where passengers arriving from a trusted country don't have to clear security (as suggested above) but it's an option that should be explored. Allowing people to be pilloried for repeated transgressions at the security checkpoint would be a definite improvement. I am sure it would boost staff morale, and give waiting passengers some amusement while waiting in slow moving queues.

13901

From an operational POV:

1) Eliminate the need to clear security again for passengers inbound from EU airports (I'd go as far to say US as well but having seen certain TSA standards...)
2) Eliminate the need for bags to clear security again for baggage inbound from EU/UK airports
3) Allow tail-to-tail transfers
4) Extend T5C
5) Bring T5C to the same level of infrastructure as T5B

All of the above is just my wet dream and, unfortunately, is not representative of BA's or HAL's opinion.

RG1X

Just a couple of minor ones for me...

1) Show the gate info for flights from A / C when you're in the B lounge (I've not found the app reliable for this). That, or just announce them earlier (they obviously know in advance as I've had the lounge receptionist suggest I should be elsewhere).
2) Replace the toilets in the First lounge. They're horrific.

BobServant

Main gripes are:
- lack of a fast-flowing route from S lounges escalators to low-numbered A gates. It’s just too cluttered and crowded at the moment with champagne bars, adverts and screens.
- calling B/C gates too late for long hauls. The plane is usually there well before the gate is called and if boarding starts at t-45 mins and gate isn’t called until t-60 mins you’re going to have a huge flow of people out to the satellites especially for an A380 then a scrum at the gate. That said we usually walk so at least aren’t crammed into the transits.
- an airside “First Wing” for F/OWE connections. It’s often quicker to go landside and back airside via F wing than use fast track FC route especially now the Int-Dom eGates are (mostly) operational.

But all told, it’s not bad for such a large terminal for both status and non-status passengers. I like the sense of space and airiness of T5. There are many, many terminals that are much worse.

edi-traveller

DeathSlam

For those with hand baggage a paternoster might be more convenient.

tigertanaka

My twopenneth:

• Sort out the need for baggage scanning when connecting on from a flight from a trusted country
• If we must have baggage scanning for connecting flights, let's have a proper fast-track lane that doesn't open up the tensa-barrier and let a family of 8 people on their annual holiday in front of me when I am at the top of the escalator. It is crazy that TFW is the quicker route through security at busy times
• Reduce the MCT on Domestic > XXX flights that are entirely within T5 (a saving of 10 minutes compared to the other way around)
• New toilets in Galleries N & S (I like the idea of urinals too). I can't think of another airport in the world where the lounge toilets are worse than those in the main terminal
• An indication of what gate S/H flights within T5A are likely to take off from (maybe on the BA app rather than on the screens?) If I have 20 minutes to get a drink in the lounge, I would prefer to pick the lounge nearer my departure gate.
• Abolish the pointless "gate open" information (although many airports are guilty of this)
• Have some more accessible shops for my wallet - apart from WHS & Boots, the rest seem to be aimed at the Arabian Petrodollar/Russian Oligarch market

citytom

I will overlook some praise for T2 but not the luggage delivery/collection aspect! The baggage carousel belts are far too small for wide-body planes, at most half the size required for a dense 777. My last AC flight saw a previously empty belt full with 2 minutes, and a queue of bags that couldn't be released (including mine, 40 or bags back, at the start of the priority tags). It took 20 minutes for some fairly lacklustre airport staff to slowly start removing bags from the carousel and pile them up in the middle. Worse than Luton airport after Christmas - never again in either case!

As for improvements to T5, agree with key themes:
- Add more moving walkways to the passageways underneath the shuttle to B&C so people have an alternative to a long wait vs a longer walk
- Start again with lounges (really like the idea of Lufthansa FRA style F service)
- Get rid of two rubbish private lounges in favour of one decent sized one (don't let Aspire bid)
- Redesign the approach to gates A12, A16 and A17 so they aren't blocked by queues for other gates, resulting in even seasoned travellers standing in the priority line for the wrong flight (my shame)
- Add a warning message on the Lifts from Heathrow Express if the doors are obstructed - TFL has had this on every tube station since I can remember, yet every time I get in the Heathrow Express lift there is someone at the back (with a backpack) stopping the doors from closing, completely oblivious
- Position an angry member of staff on the Exit Side of the Heathrow Express Lifts to shout at anyone queue jumping by entering from that side (else I will keep doing it)

1P

Displaying gate information earlier is not rocket science. Every airport in the US can do it, most European airports seem to do it, and so could BA if they wanted to. It's sheer laziness on the part of the schedulers. Yes, I know fluid gate management is the way they've always worked, but a change is long overdue! I'm really fed up with the mad dash to the gate, especially if the lounge is at the other end of the terminal or you have to take the transit. <rant off>