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Chaotic start to Terminal 5 hits British Airways traffic figures in April

Tuesday 06 May 2008 8:58am

British Airways moved some of its operations to Terminal 5 at the end of March, and April's traffic figures show that the initial chaos had an affect on passenger numbers duringthe month. In the first 5 weeks, over 1. 4 million people travelled through the new terminal. In the initial 10-14 days, many flights were cancelled, over 22,000 items of baggage went missing or were delayed and passengers were often delayed. The load factor, the average of how full each flight is, fell 5% to 71. 6% compared to April in the previous year. In a statement from the airline, the reasons for the drop in load factor were cited as that Easter did not fall in April this year (which historically is a peak travel time), and that the school holidays didn't fall over the easter period in some parts of the country. The net result was that less people travelled. British Airways said in a statement [quote] 'Market conditions are broadly unchanged with longhaul non-premium traffic showing significant weakness. '. . . . 'In April some impact was felt, particularly on transfer traffic, from the move to Terminal 5 and the operational problems in the early part of the month'. The good news for passengers is that Terminal 5 is getting better and the airline is working hard to do this. The terminal itself is an architectural marvel and is huge. If you do use the airport, you can expect lots of walking!

Browse tags: #BA #LHR

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