Open skies | Enjoy your flight, if you can

HEATHROW airport's new Terminal Five made the news for all the usual reasons on its opening day: lengthy delays, appalling overcrowding and lost baggage. This time it was blamed on teething troubles rather than bad weather, terrorist threats or uppity unions that often turn the barely tolerable experience of flight into an ordeal. Yet when the new terminal, which opened to passengers on Thursday March 27th, hits its stride the vast £4.3 billion ($8.5 billion) edifice is more likely to be met with an approving nod than the grimaces of its early customers. And the lot of the transatlantic flyer in particular may also improve with the introduction on Sunday of a long-awaited and hard-negotiated "open skies" deal between the European Union and America.

The new terminal at London's main airport, and the world's busiest international hub, is for the exclusive use of British Airways (BA), which holds more than 40% of take-off and landing slots at Heathrow. The chaos of the first day of operations (and more flights were set for cancellation on Friday) will take BA some time to live down. Despite the initial problems, a fully functioning T5 will take some strain off the remaining four terminals, so life may grow more bearable for other users too.

	New Terminal Opens at London's Heathrow	Associated Press	Thu Mar 27	0
	Terminal 5 launch disaster brings holiday chaos	The Times	Fri Mar 28	0