FIFTH TERMINAL OPENS: The much anticipated Terminal 5 at Heathrow Airport, to the west of London, will open on March 27th with British Airways as its sole tenant.
All Irish passengers travelling long haul with BA will be using the terminal; they will be able to avail of its ultramodern facilities.
Terminal 5 will boast a 12,000-bag-an-hour baggage-handling system, 96 automated check-in kiosks, 96 fast bag-drop counters and 50 regular check-in counters.
There will be 20 security channels at the new terminal, compared with eight at Terminal 4.
The terminal will also have an extra "prepare for security" area that weeds out people who have arrived less than 35 minutes before their flights depart.
According to British Airways, the decision to have a 35-minute cut-off is to stop last-minute "have-a-go" passengers who dash for the departure gates.
These passengers contribute to planes being delayed and missing their take-off slots, according to the airline.
Irish shoppers going through the terminal will be able to avail of high-end shopping, with stores such as Coach, Tiffany, Prada, Gucci and Harrods having a presence.
There will also be high-end dining, with a new Gordon Ramsay bistro named Plane Food.
The 60 gates at Terminal 5 mean that passengers whose flights arrive early or late should not have to wait for a gate to be free so that they can disembark.
On immigration, the British government has set a goal of a waiting time of no more than 10 minutes for non-EU citizens. It says new staffing levels are in place to meet the target.
Terminal 5 will be linked to central London via the Underground and the Heathrow Express rail service to Paddington station. Some trains on the Piccadilly line will run to Terminal 4; others will serve Terminals 1, 2, 3 and 5.
The 15-minute express train to and from Paddington will take 20 minutes to reach terminal five.