Passengers 'have no confidence in T5'
13 March 2008Air passengers appear to expect that they will still need their travel insurance for peace of mind when travelling through Terminal 5 at London Heathrow.
A survey by baggage ID company i-TRAK found that 69 per cent of people do not expect the new terminal to herald a quick change in Heathrow's poor record for baggage handling.
Some 38 per cent of people said they did not expect to see any improvements this year, while 31 per cent predicted that there would be no change at all.
One in five of the 1,300 members of the public polled said that they had lost a piece of baggage at Heathrow.
Adam Dalby, managing director of i-TRAK, said: "While Terminal 5 is being heralded as the solution to many air travel problems, the reality of combining two very differently operating terminals will no doubt generate major teething problems, especially where baggage movements are concerned.
"The public is clearly very pessimistic about seeing improvements to baggage handling, especially with so many having been personally affected in the past."
Terminal 5 will open on March 27th and will employ a baggage system using technology that has reportedly been proven effective at a number of other global airports.