An official T5 report for the aviation community. Part two. Creating and caring for essential assets Balfour Beatty is a major partner to BAA in developing and maintaining its airport infrastructure and facilities. At Terminal 5 we are responsible for work worth over £400 million, including the rail systems for the Heathrow Express and Piccadilly Line extensions, the station construction, project management, mechanical Balfour Beatty plc and electrical services, track transit system and ancillary buildings. Group Head Office, 130 Wilton Road, In addition to maintaining BAA's Scottish airports and the Heathrow London SW1V 1LQ. Express, our portfolio also includes major contributions to the Tel: +44 (0)20 7216 6800 expansion of airports at Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Glasgow, Manchester, Fax: +44 (0)20 7216 6950 Stansted, Gatwick, Miami, Dubai and Hong Kong international airports. www.balfourbeatty.com FOREWORD TONY DOUGLAS CEO HEATHROW AIRPORT > We are delighted to have produced, again in partnership with ACI EUROPE, a second Terminal 5 souvenir publication. The value of recording the journey of Terminal 5’s construction is all the more relevant given the velocity with which the March 2008 opening day is approaching. When I think back a year to March 2006, we had just handed over our new air traffic control tower to NATS for the installation of its specialist Throughout construction, as the huge steel and glass structures have systems, and were completing the construction of the 13km tunnel risen from the western end of the airfield, it has been business as usual at network. Now we are looking forward to the live transfer of operations the world’s busiest international airport. However, the winds of change are from old to new tower and, with the track and signalling systems beginning to blow apace. When T5 opens, it will undeniably provide one of installed, the tunnels are ready for live testing with trains; the rate of the best passenger experiences of any airport in the world. But this marks progress has been staggering. just the beginning. Since mid-2006, the T5 project has evolved from a building programme, Heathrow is vital to the health of the British economy and its continued to a completions-led programme of works. Fit-out and testing are now success depends on its ability to remain a leading hub airport. We are well underway and, by September, construction will have given way to the investing £2 million a day (13 million) in improving our facilities in the six-month operational readiness period. largest sustained period of investment that the airport has ever seen. In the meantime – with less than 10% of the work to complete – our With the additional capacity that T5 will bring, we have, for the first time, focus is very much on the finishing line. This is arguably the most an opportunity to rebuild, radically refurbish or completely redesign all of complex period, however, and we remain resolute against complacency. the airport’s terminal facilities. Beginning with Heathrow East, a project to replace Terminals 1 and 2 with a modern high-quality facility similar to T5, and the extensive refurbishment of Terminals 3 and 4, we aim to rejuvenate Heathrow by 2012 – in time for the London Olympics. Prior to that, however, we look forward to the completion of T5 and to celebrating not only one of the UK’s most successful construction projects, but opening one of the world’s most exciting airport terminals. 3 18520Untitled-3 Logistics 1 Ad final 24/1/07 08:17 Page 1 2/3/07 12:30:42 pm Wilson James Redefining Construction Logistics across the industry Delivering: > Pre-construction Logistics Consulting > Advanced Supply Chain Management > Bespoke materials strategies > Proven consolidation techniques > Complete site-wide operational logistics PREDICTABILITY. CERTAINTY. CONTROLLED. ECONOMICAL. PRODUCTIVE. CLEANER. SAFER. EFFICIENT. Wilson James provides worldclass logistics to worldclass construction clients Tel: 01702 346222 Email: [email protected] Website: www.wilsonjames.co.uk Willie Walsh: “The future for British Airways at Heathrow is exciting. On March 27 next year when we open the doors of Terminal 5, we will be ready for it.” ‘ONCE-IN-A-LIFETIME OPPORTUNITy’ WILLIE WALSH, CEO, BRITISH AIRWAYS >In less than 12 months’ time, we will welcome the first customers British Airways. The first thing customers will notice is how spacious, through the doors of Heathrow’s Terminal 5. light and modern the building feels. It offers exciting new views of the This spectacular airport development represents a once-in-a- world’s busiest international airfield, and unparalleled standards of lifetime opportunity for British Airways, and everyone in the airline is passenger comfort and convenience. waiting to grab it with both hands. When departing from Heathrow, customers will enjoy much less The first flight tickets will go on sale in mid-April, which means queuing, faster baggage drops, accelerated boarding processes and that customers will soon start to see on their itineraries the words: better punctuality. ‘Departing from London Heathrow Terminal 5’. At last, this historic For customers arriving, the automated luggage systems will deliver project is becoming reality. bags to the carousels for pick-up as soon as immigration checks have It is not before time. In the 15 years since the original planning been completed. application was made, Heathrow has been overtaken as Europe’s To ensure that all this happens from Day One, a huge amount of leading hub as Paris Charles De Gaulle, Amsterdam and Frankfurt preparation will take place in the coming months. Testing of the IT have increased capacity and extended their route networks. and baggage systems has already begun, and we have a programme Heathrow, in contrast, has stood still. For passengers and aircraft in place for rigorous testing of every other aspect of Terminal 5’s alike, it has become more and more congested and delay-prone. systems, processes and operational layout. For transfer passengers in particular, it has become a decreasingly We have reached agreement with most groups of staff over more attractive option. efficient ways of working in our new home, and are close to agreement The opening of Terminal 5 marks the start of Heathrow’s fightback. with the others. Its customer facilities will be better than any other hub in Europe, Staff will be given extensive training and familiarisation sessions in and flight connections will be smoother than they have ever been. T5 and undertake many full-scale ‘proving’ trials involving thousands And the new development will be used exclusively by customers of of customers and bags. 5 > The principal structures ‘WE SEE THE FINISH are complete. T5B, for example, looks and feels finished – there is 4% or 5% LINE, BUT we’re BY NO of the final scope, such as the fire alarm system, to do – and MEANS COMPLACENT’ the T5A concourse is 90% complete. “We see the finish line, but PROJEct DIREctOR ANDREW WOLSTENHOLME IS THE we’re by no means complacent. MAN WITH THE SIMPLE TASK OF DELIVERING T5 AND There is absolute focus – it’s about crossing the line ACHIEVING THE FOUR KEY TARGETS OF BEING ON TIME, together and helping others ON BUDGET, DELIVERING THE RIGHT QUALITY AND achieve their own goals. Only DOING IT SAFELY. “WE ARE OVER 90% COMPLETE NOW. when we have those tied down will we think about the finish WE ARE IN THE LAST DELIVERY PHase – FINAL FIT- line,” said Wolstenholme. OUT, COMMISSIONING AND SYSTEM INTEGRATION. IN He explained that the biggest ANY PROJEct, THE LAST 10% IS THE MOST COMPlex,” challenge has been the sheer scale of the programme of HE TOLD ROSS FALCONER. work. “The span of the portfolio is just so huge. The diversity of projects that must come together on the same day is the big challenge,” he said. T5B will be complete and handed over in June and the 6 Wolstenholme: “We are very confident it is going to be a great success. We are on programme and on budget. We are in a very good place, but are not complacent about what the future holds.” aim is for all of the work to be completed by September. This will allow the three most common reasons for a terminal not opening on time a six-month period for familiarisation and training of staff and the – that the baggage system doesn’t work, the systems don’t work as a testing and commissioning of systems. Operational trials will begin in collective, or the airport doesn’t get a licence to operate/occupy earnest in November. the building. At the time of writing, 14 aircraft stands had been handed over Wolstenholme said: “Inevitably, things will happen that we didn’t and much of the landscaping had been completed, for example. On expect. Because of our approach using the T5 Agreement, BAA took the ‘to do’ list is the concrete pavement on the airfield, and testing on the risk. We then created an environment which enables us to and commissioning of the car park. “Very excitingly, we recently work with suppliers to develop the right technical solutions should rode on the Tracked Transit System (TTS) for the first time,” said problems emerge. On the occasions that something has gone wrong, Wolstenholme. the T5 Agreement has allowed us to find the solution. When BAA If I had offered him the current situation at the very beginning of the embarks on future complex projects, we will use the principles of the project, Wolstenholme said he would have bitten my arm off. “We are T5 Agreement.” very confident it is going to be a great success. We are on programme Getting the brief right and getting the stakeholder relationship right and on budget.