With London Heathrow Airport's brand new terminal having been just finished its first flight in by United Airlines went off without a hitch. While the opening day of June 4th was only operating around ten percent capacity there were no problems at the new terminal.
Learning from previous mistakes Terminal Two was kept at a low capacity. In 2008 when Terminal Five was opened to full capacity the staff struggled with the computer and baggage systems leading to major chaos as flights continuously flew in. Starting off with staff being unable to park and navigate the then new terminal. Coupled with the baggage system being unable to cope with the massive number of bags passengers were forced to suffer canceled flights or stay around for hours waiting to get their baggage. Planning to avoid that kind of chaos again the new terminal will slowly open up over the next several months so that it will be able to accommodate the full twenty six airlines.
Terminal Two, also named The Queen's Terminal after the previous building that stood there named The Queen's Building, began in July of 2009. With phase one involving the destruction of the previous Terminal Two and the construction of half of the new one. The second phase will then be focused on the construction of the second half of the terminal. This will require the destruction of the currently operating Terminal One and is not expected to be finished until the next decade.
To celebrate the first flight into the 2.5 billion Euro terminal, United Airlines passengers, coming in from Chicago, were greeted by staff dressed as Beefeaters and in other classic British garb. The modern new terminal has sixty check-in gates, sixty-six self-check-in kiosks, twenty-nine security lines, thirty-three shops and seventeen restaurants. The new terminal has an open air theme with open walkways, tall ceilings, and plenty of windows to let in sunlight for the incoming and outgoing travelers.
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