BA transfer to Terminal 5 off to a flying start

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Andrew Feinberg

White House Correspondent

British Airways' transfer of some long-haul flights to Heathrow's Terminal 5 started well today with the first two planes arriving on time.

BA put on extra staff to cope with the new flights in an effort to avoid the chaotic scenes when the £4.3bn new facility opened at the end of March.

The first flight in - from Lagos in Nigeria - was on time at 5.55am, with the second, from New York, touching down on schedule at 6.25am.

A BA spokesman said: "So far everything is going well and we are hoping for a trouble-free day. We have more than enough staff to cope. Passengers from the first flight were through in just seven minutes."

The shambolic opening of the terminal on 27 March, when flights were cancelled and bags went astray, prompted BA to postpone a planned 30 April move of long-haul operation from Heathrow Terminal 4 to T5 until June.

The airline later announced the move would be done in phases, with eight destinations moving today, more on 17 September and the rest at the end of October.

The eight destinations moving today are New York, Lagos and Abuja in Nigeria, Bangalore, Beijing, Cairo, Cape Town, and Phoenix in Arizona, USA.

The BA spokesman said: "We have staff at Terminal 4 in case some people got there for their flight, although we have been in contact with passengers and travel agents telling them about the transfer.

"On that first day in March, we moved 394 flights. Today it's just 15 so it's all on a much smaller scale."