UK NEWS

HEATHROW WING OPENS AS PROTESTS FAIL TO TAKE OFF

OPEN: Heathrow's new terminal

Saturday March 15,2008

By Richard Palmer, Royal Correspondent

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HEATHROW’S controversial £4.3billion terminal five was opened by the Queen yesterday amid tight security after an intruder ran on to a busy runway.

Armed police with sniffer dogs patrolled throughout the building for fear that the ceremony might be disrupted by green protesters.

Police held a man who scaled a 15ft perimeter fence and ran on to the runway on the eve of the opening – but yesterday went off without a hitch.

The new terminal will become fully operational on March 27.

It will be used exclusively by British Airways and handle up to 30 million passengers a year, increasing Heathrow’s annual passenger numbers to about 95 million. Fifty-three years after she opened Heathrow’s first terminal, the Queen toured the new soaring glass and metal building with Prince Philip and described it as a “21st century gateway to Britain”.

The royals also shared a joke with the BA crew of the Boeing 777 which crash-landed at Heathrow in January.

Green campaigners fear terminal five will pave the way for a third runway, a sixth terminal and up to twice as many passengers. But Heathrow is among the world’s worst airports for delays because of overcrowding.

Sir Nigel Rudd, chairman of the airport’s operator BAA, said: “London deserves a first class airport. We are starting today. This is a new beginning.”

He said plans to replace ageing terminals one and two would mean that 70 per cent of passengers would be using new terminals within four years.