British Airways Prepares for Overnight Terminal Move (Update1)

March 26 (Bloomberg) -- British Airways Plc, Europe's third- largest carrier, will shift operations tonight to a new 4.3 billion-pound ($8.6 billion) terminal at London Heathrow in the biggest airport move in U.K. history.

The airline will relocate more than 1,000 aircraft, ground vehicles and pieces of equipment between 11 p.m. London time tonight and 4 a.m. tomorrow. British Airways aims to make the move without interrupting the flight schedule of Heathrow, Europe's busiest airport.

The equipment will be transferred in a convoy, supervised by 250 of the airline's employees and 100 volunteers, that will travel three miles (5 kilometers) from Heathrow Terminals 1 and 4 to the new Terminal 5. The building is opening to the public tomorrow and British Airways will be its only occupant. Campaign groups plan to protest, saying the expansion will lead to more travel that harms the environment.

``This is an historic move for this airline and for U.K. aviation; nothing on this scale has been attempted before,'' Willie Walsh, chief executive officer of London-based British Airways, said in a statement. ``We are relocating to a completely new terminal without requiring any kind of shutdown by the airport authorities.''

Tonight's move includes 27 short-haul aircraft, 95 baggage tugs, 240 cargo containers, 22 sets of aircraft steps and 10 toilet-servicing units. More than 2,500 customer-service and baggage workers will also transfer, while as many as 13,000 Heathrow-based cabin-crew members and 2,800 pilots will report for duty at the new building.

Contingency Plans

The airline is monitoring wind speeds and weather forecasts and has contingency plans ``to deal with every type of potential last-minute disruption,'' British Airways said in the statement. Heathrow operator BAA Ltd. has said it anticipates protests.

Stop Airport Expansion, a campaign group against aviation growth, is organizing a so-called ``flash mob'' demonstration at the new terminal for tomorrow. The group expects more than 500 people to participate.

``The flash mob is a fun event but with a very serious purpose,'' said Andrea Needham, a campaigner who plans to attend. ``Airport expansion is totally irresponsible in the face of the devastating effects of climate change.''

BAA and British Airways say they've worked to cut Terminal 5's energy use as much as possible, designing the building to allow in natural light to reduce the need for electricity and warming it with spare heat from a power station.

Third Runway

Still, the terminal will increase capacity at Heathrow by 30 million passengers annually, and could pave the way for a third runway, which BAA and airlines including British Airways are lobbying the government for.

``We know each new development, like Terminal 5, simply leads to demands for more,'' said Christine Taylor, vice chair of the No Third Runway Action Group, in a statement. ``But the game is up: BAA and the government must end the madness of airport expansion.''

Terminal 5 stands 131 feet (40 meters) high with a glass exterior, 10.6 miles of baggage conveyor belts and luxury lounges for first- and business-class passengers that span an area equal to six soccer fields. It's the first new terminal at Heathrow since 1986, when Terminal 4 opened.

British Airways will move 92 percent of its operations to the new building over the next year, with most of that occurring tonight. A second shift will take place overnight on April 30, involving another 500 pieces of ground equipment and 120 flights. The remaining 8 percent of British Airways' flights will operate from Terminal 3, where the carrier's Oneworld alliance partners are based.

Most Airlines Affected

Terminal 5's opening will eventually result in 54 of Heathrow's 90 airlines moving to other buildings, allowing cooperation partners to operate close to each other to improve efficiency, according to BAA. The Star Alliance, which includes carriers such as Deutsche Lufthansa AG, Singapore Airlines Ltd., UAL Corp.'s United Airlines, US Airways Group Inc., and Air New Zealand, will shift to Terminal 1 over the next four years.

British Airways' first flight arriving at Terminal 5 will land at 4:50 a.m. tomorrow from Hong Kong. The first departure will be to Paris, leaving at 6:20 a.m. The building will handle another 380 flights throughout the day.

Passengers are being advised by BAA, a unit of Spanish builder Grupo Ferrovial SA, to check with their airline and find out which terminal they should travel from before arriving at Heathrow.

To contact the reporter on this story: Tracy Alloway in London at talloway@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Chris Jasper at cjasper@bloomberg.net.