The development has been billed as the most technologically advanced airport terminal in the world, but Paul Coby, CIO at BA, told CBR that T5 is a, business transformation project, not an IT project.
A number of systems are already in operation throughout the terminal. Earlier this year, Heathrow Airport Centre (HAC) and the Flight Management Unit went live, joining the Aircraft Movements EAA at T5. HAC is the control and allocations centre for all BA operations in Heathrow. It includes a weather radar; an airport visualiser with operational vehicle telematics to track all vehicles; an event tracking manager; a feed detailing aircraft positioning; a resource allocation system to allocate tasks to members of staff; and an integrated communications system.
Throughout the terminal, enough cable to stretch to Istanbul and back has been laid. Over 2,000 PCs have been installed and a total of over 9,000 connected devices will be used. BA has also announced that around 5,000 mobile devices will also be used, along with 1,600 IP telephones.
Coby said We are on the final straight now, most of the IT is in place and at this stage, no more major technology changes should be made. It is the most technologically advanced airport terminal in the world and it is designed around the passenger’s needs.
An advanced trial of the new terminal was conducted on February 23, when 2,000 members of the public passed through the airport terminal as any travelling passenger would. The exercise is seen as a test of the entire airport system. A final trial will take place on March 8.
The first flight to use T5 will arrive from Hong Kong at around 5am on March 27, 2008. Coby said: This is a real shared endeavour between BA and BAA, and is a once in a life time opportunity. It is a real flagship project for what the UK can do.
