James Forsyth James Forsyth

The terminal dozen

The opening of Terminal 5 was a national humiliation but it seems that the problems there aren’t fixed yet. The trade union that handles the baggage at T5 claim that passengers have a one in twelve chance of losing their bag at the terminal if they are taking a connecting flight from there; incredibly there is no mechanical system for moving the bags that arrive on flights that land at Terminal 4 to the new terminal.

I really do not understand why in this country both the public and private sectors are so incapable of pulling off what the French call le grand projet. I fear that the cost over-runs and the cock-ups associated with London 2012 will make the opening of Terminal 5 look like a raging success.

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