With recent event affecting the global market for air travel, many flight related industries are laying off many staff.
Boeing, who make the planes, are laying of 12, 000. Airbus have no new orders. United Airlines are laying off staff as are British Airways and Virgin.
With the reduction in size of our air carriers, the question is, do we really need the nwe Terminal 5 at Heathrow?
From early indications, it would appear the general public has lost faith in Air Travel.
Thus, a reduction in flights and passengers is likely to follow.
This would make airports less busy and the demand for new terminals les and less.
Could Heathrow now cope with just 4?
Well I doubt it. This is a temporary glitch. People will soon want to fly again. People still need to go on holiday. People still need to go on business trips and this will inevitably grow and grow once recent events have faded from memory.
I expect Heathrow Terminal 5 is only a matter of time.
If it is built, I hope that it is built with the passengers in mind.
The problems facing existing Heathrow are many.
It has always been known as the Business airport. With neighbouring Gatwick not far away handling mainly Holiday travel, heathrow has been left to handle the long haul/business traffic.
With its mainly business clientele, it means the facilities are not as good for going on holiday from there.
The Duty free shop and other ’’airside’’ shops are very poor when comparing them to Gatwick.
It is also much bigger with the 4 terminals hard to commute between.
Not like Gatwick’s North and South terminal that have a Monorail Shuttle between them.
It is harder to find you way around Heathrow too. The parking is absolutely attrocious and getting around the actual airport grounds itself is a nightmare.
Things are not well signposted and you can easily get lost.
This applies inside the terminal too. I was following signs for the loo and then they suddenly disappeared leaving me facing a dead end and no loo!
I think the biggest problem here is planning or lack of it.
The terminals pop up here without any forward thinking. A simple bolt-on solution is easier than facing the underlying situation.
Its just not big enough ar capable of handling the traffic, people or airlines.
I look how organised airports like San Francisco are and wonder why we dont follow a similar pattern.
Increased Security is obviously something that takes precedence at the moment but Heathrow can boast being one of the most secure in the world.
That is its one true plus point.
Everything else is negative im afraid.
I say, build a terminal 5. A huge terminal. Big enough to replace 2 or 3 others. It would keep the residents happy if they knew they were losing 2 or 3 eyesores for the sake of one new one and it would be a much more ’’people friendly’’ airport.