British Airways postpones Terminal 5 transfer
LONDON (AP) - April 11, 2008 The delay puts the carrier more than a month behind schedule. It
had planned to switch almost all of its long haul flights from
Terminal 4 on April 30, but now said it will be unable to do that
until atleast June 5.
"We are making this decision in the interests of customers,"
said British Airways chief executive Willie Walsh, adding that June
5 was the earliest the switch would occur. "Though Terminal 5 is
now working well, we need to have confidence that good service can
be maintained when the terminal is handling larger numbers of
customers."
The opening of Terminal 5 has been a public relations disaster
for British Airways, which had hoped the new building would end to
frequent complaints about delays and overcrowding at the airport,
Europe's busiest.
The carrier has canceled hundreds of flights since the $8.6
billion terminal opened on March 27 and a high-tech baggage routing
system broke down.
At one point, more than 15,000 pieces of luggage went missing.
Walsh said Friday that three-quarters of those have now been
returned.
British Airways has said the problems have cost it some $32
million in lost revenue and compensation through March.
The delay by British Airways could lead to compensation claims
against Heathrow's operator BAA.
The carriers that had expected to move into the terminal space
vacated by British Airways, including Alitalia SpA, Air Transat and
Aeroflot, must now wait.
