British Airways has confirmed that by the end of June 2015 the airline will operate from two terminals at Heathrow.
The process for moving out of Terminal 1 has already started, with flights to Dublin and Belfast successfully moving to Terminal 5 on October 26. Over the next 12 months, flights to another 17 destinations will change terminals with the moves completed by October 2015.
The airline has also announced that its Airbus A380 will fly to Miami from next October, with two daily flights to the Florida sunshine on board the superjumbo. The new A380 route is part of the airline’s plans to enhance the use of facilities in T3 and T5.
Lynne Embleton, Director of Strategy, said: “It is great news that we can now look forward to having flights from just two Heathrow terminals. This means that we can offer our customers, and those from our oneworld partners, smoother journeys, especially if they are connecting between flights.
“Being based in two terminals rather than three also means we can now use our short-haul aircraft in a more efficient way and improve the short-haul schedules we offer our customers.”
The complex process of arranging which flights will fly from which terminal has had to take into consideration the customer proposition, schedules, connections, stand availability, baggage capacity and reducing some of the peaks at Terminal 5.
To help prepare for greater numbers of long-haul customers in Terminal 3 and the introduction of A380 services for the first time, the airline is working with Heathrow Airport to invest in the check-in areas, baggage system, lounges, connections centre and façade.
Once the moves are complete, Terminal 5 will be home to just under 120 destinations and Terminal 3 will serve 21 British Airways destinations.
Customers are being informed of the changes and ba.com has also been updated to reflect the moves.
Timeline of terminal moves
October 26, 2014 – Dublin and Belfast flights relocated to Terminal 5 from Terminal 1. Barcelona flights moved into Terminal 3 from Terminal 5.
June 30, 2015 – Hanover, Luxembourg, Lyon, Marseille and Bilbao flights will move from Terminal 1 to Terminal 3.
June 30, 2015 – Amman, Beirut, Baku and Cairo flights will move from Terminal 1 to Terminal 5.
October 14, 2015 – Miami, Denver, Phoenix, Las Vegas, Vancouver, Cape Town, Accra and Nairobi flights will move from Terminal 5 to Terminal 3.