How would YOU improve T5 - radical ideas to reboot BA’s “home”
 

Let other airlines use it, and make BA share some of the pain of the rest of LHR. I really think AA should be co-located there, spinning off a whole chunk of both long and short haul to other terminals. That would also encourage BA to up their connections game.

I would improve the environmental controls so that the interior of the entire terminal is at a comfortable temperature, instead of always too hot.

Part of that would be to replace all the lounge chillers with refrigeration equipment that dumps the heat outside instead of into the room.

T5 was built for BA. Why inflict what BA wanted on other airlines?

There is no room for AA flights in T5. If there was room for more flights from T5 - they and HAL would have to extend C and build D - then BA flights from T3 should move first rather than be split off.

Can't see how AA would fit sadly. Aer Lingus, on the other hand would fit nicely, especially with some of the suggested improvements. If IAG were to take a group wide view, money could surely be saved. Doing that may even open up some route consolidation opportunities for the two airlines to share the route with larger 321s, releasing some slots without breaching the regulatory undertakings IAG gave about the service frequency.

Build the "D Gates" satellite and stop regular use of coaching gates at T5.
Build a BA lounge in "C Gates"

Alternatively get the lounge contract to Accor hotels, which I believe run our favorite T3 lounges :)

Properly renovate / modernize the showers at both south lounges and arrivals, and increase the number of showers at south lounges.

Make connections fast track work properly - e.g., physically remove the possibility of non-fast track passenegers being directed into there too. Although since I always use landside-TFW path now, the persistently rubbish fast track connections doesn't bother me directly anymore.

Adjust the "street furniture" and visual cues so that the hordes plodding and ambling about the main terminal are encouraged not to clog up the pathways for passengers who just want to walk from one place to another efficiently and not feel they have fallen into a shopping mall on a bank holiday.

Keep the arrivals immigration e-gates all working/on all the time (rather than arriving to see a big queue and only 4 gates working).

GC North should be bigger/better. It would be nice if GF were bigger too but honestly probably not critical.

I'd rather have improvements to the A lounges and confidence of transit time from A to C than another lounge in C.

Overall, in fairness, it's not that bad a terminal.

Stop the stupid scrum for the baggage drop machines. It's pathetic. There's no queueing system. One person randomly picks those who push to the front to show their passport and boarding pass. There's no desk to put things on. There's no space to put bags down properly so you just juggle everything while trying to show a mobile boarding pass to someone who then doesn't even look at them properly.

Consider putting the business class check-in desks near the tube/HEx entrance rather than in the middle of the room.

Stop faking the "go to gate" and "boarding" announcements, or make the B and C gates less depressing places to wait.

Run more tubes to T5.

Having said all this, I still think it's a good terminal overall.

Install some smoking areas/rooms