T5 - a new kind of airport?

The worst thing about Heathrow airport is the long queues. The best thing is its proximity to my parent’s home. And the most ridiculous? That has to be the sheer number of shopping centres.

They aren’t just in the departure lounge, or just in the arrivals terminal, there are even some between customs and the meeting area. So, as you push your luggage (if you’re lucky and it has arrived) past the customs officials, and look forward to getting out of the airport, the British Airports Authority (BAA) take you on a short detour – around more shops – before they finally let you out.

From what I’ve heard, the new Terminal 5 at Heathrow will be even worse. It’s basically one big retail centre – with a few airplanes on the side. It’s almost as if BAA know that passengers are going to be spending a lot of time there – so they might as well spend some money, too.

But forget about the worst, the best and the ridiculous, Terminal 5 also promises the secure – with big-brother type surveillance. All domestic passengers will be photographed and have their fingerprints scanned on their way out – twice – once at security and then again as they board the plane. (Funny that, you’d think the British government would be more worried about the people coming in…). International passengers won’t, as they have to show their passports. As domestic and international passengers will share the same departure lounge BAA decided to introduce the fingerprinting. Domestic passengers don’t have to show an ID, so BAA felt it would be possible for somebody arriving from an international airport to get hold of a bording pass to a UK destination in the transit lounge, thereby avoiding immigration controls into the UK.

UPDATE At the last minute, BAA cancelled plans to fingerprint domestic passengers. The data protection watchdog said the plan may breach British law.

You would think it would have been easier to keep domestic and international departures separate from each other. And less controversial! In my mind, this could be the first serious design flaw. There may be others.

In our exercise, we focus on language about Heathrow’s new terminal, which opens for business on 27 March. We hope you find the vocabulary useful for talking about your business trips to London and elsewhere.

Deborah Capras