HM the Queen has officially opened Heathrow's new Terminal 5 building, two weeks ahead of its first passenger flights.
Construction of the £4.3bn terminal began in September 2002, employing over 60,000 people and requiring 100 million man-hours to complete.
Designed by Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners, the terminal will be used exclusively by British Airways for 92 percent of its flights.
Today sees phase one of the project opening, with phase two, which will add terminal 5C, set for completion in 2010.
However, the opening of Terminal 5 is not all good news for passengers as BA has announced travellers will be turned away at security checkpoints if they arrive less than 35 mins before their flights, despite BA claiming the average passenger will only take ten mins to get from the terminal entrance to the departure lounge.
Passengers will no longer be given the chance to run for the gate but will be redirected to a BA desk where they will have to re-book, potentially costing them hundreds of pounds, The Times reports.
BA says the change is being introduced to prevent one late-running passenger from delaying up to 350 other people on a flight.
The new rule is expected to be introduced gradually at other Heathrow terminals and other airports.
BA says under the old regime a flight could be kept waiting for a passenger who has checked-in online but has not arrived at the airport.
"Under the new system, we will know whether they have passed through security and we will have more on-time departures," a spokesman says.
By Elizabeth Clifford-Marsh
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London Heathrow Airport (LHA/EGLL) Terminal 5
