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Airline passengers from Bahrain will have to wait their turn before landing at Heathrow Airport's new Terminal 5.
British Airways and BAA have decided that, following the already announced move of some long haul flights from Terminal 4 to Terminal 5 tomorrow, the remaining long haul flights will move in two further phases.
The first will take place on September 17, and will include flights from Bahrain International Airport. The second phase will take place at the end of October.
Terminal 5 is now working well, an airline spokesman said, and this phased move has been planned in the "interests of our passengers and the smooth operation of Heathrow over the busy summer period".
It was 20 years in the planning, cost £4.3 billion (BD3.21 billion) to build and its staff underwent six months' training before it opened in March. But none of that could prevent the first day's operation at Terminal 5 descending into chaos after the baggage system collapsed. Thousands of passengers had their travel plans disrupted and British Airways was forced to cancel at least 34 flights in and out of the terminal.
In a big embarrassment for Heathrow's owner BAA and the UK's flag carrier, travellers were restricted to carrying hand luggage only. Early glitches saw thousands of BA customers fly off without their bags, suffer delays at luggage carousels or have their flights cancelled following a catalogue of errors.
The situation worsened as airport sources said the entire baggage handling operation had "fallen down", triggering angry scenes at BA information desks as passengers deluged staff with complaints after baggage check-in was suspended.
Just hours after BA's chief executive, Willie Walsh, had toured the terminal promising a new era for Heathrow travel, the airline was forced to apologise once again for farcical conditions at Britain's biggest and busiest airport.
Utilising the latest in design and technology, the terminal aims eventually to put customers in control of their own travel, from the technology employed both before and during the flight experience to the flexible layout of the building.
Instead of endless queuing British Airways hopes to give customers back their time to spend as they choose - such as relaxing, eating, shopping or working.
It is estimated that around 80 per cent of all passengers departing via Terminal 5 will check in online or at one of the 96 check-in kiosks within the departures hall and the vast majority won't encounter any queues in the process.
Hold luggage can be dropped off at one of over 100 desks, which all link directly into its much-maligned "state-of-the-art" baggage system which should be capable of handling high volumes of luggage at unprecedented speeds.
In fact, the baggage system was the first part of the building to be developed and includes 18km of belts and tracks - which, when working properly - is capable of processing 12,000 bags per hour!
Once past the 'fast bag drop' desks, travellers will make their way through security and then enter the retail area on their way towards the aircraft gates.
The retail facilities aim to "redefine airport shopping" to offer the ultimate in retail therapy and the 144 stores and restaurants spread across 200,000 sq ft of retail area should ensure an "unsurpassed" shopping and dining experience.
Travellers from Bahrain will have to wait and see whether September dawns before they can enjoy a few of the renowned names that are in Terminal 5 including Gordon Ramsey, Harrods, Paul Smith, Tiffany, Mulberry, Hughes and Hughes, Mappin & Webb, Links, Smythson, Caviar House & Prunier and Cafe Amato, Starbucks.
