British Airways celebrates 100th day of Terminal 5

British Airways celebrated July 4th as the 100th day since it opened Terminal 5 at Heathrow Airport.

The airline marked the day by announcing plans for a number of improvements for business class passengers, including dedicated check-in areas and a new business lounge.

During its first 100 days of operation, Terminal 5 hosted more than 38,000 British Airways flights and handled almost five million passengers.

Its launch was fraught with problems, but British Airways chief executive Willie Walsh said that the terminal has consistently improved and is now living up to expectations.

"We have worked tirelessly to improve every aspect of our operational performance and our customers are seeing the benefits," he said.

"Our punctuality and baggage performance levels are significantly improved on this time last year and check-in queues are much reduced."

Terminal 5 is currently handling some 57,000 passengers a day, compared to around 40,000 a day when it first opened, and this number is expected to rise to more than 65,000 a day at the height of the summer holiday season.

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