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Queen officially opens new Heathrow Terminal 5

14/03/2008

The Queen has officially opened Heathrow's new Terminal 5.

She declared the new £4.3 billion terminal open at around midday today.

The ceremony went ahead despite a security breach at the airport yesterday that saw a man scale the perimeter fence and run on to a runway.

There has been considerable controversy surrounding the new terminal with environmental and resident groups opposing its development, claiming it will to lead to increases in the number of flights, noise and pollution.

BAA, which runs the London airport, claims the number of flights will remain the same and that the new terminal will "transform" the level of service available to the public.

Heathrow's fifth terminal is approximately the size of 50 football pitches and boasts the largest airline lounge complex in the world. It has taken some 60,000 people 100 million man hours to build, since construction began in September 2002.

It includes 50 new aircraft stands, two separate building, 54 check-in desks, a multi-storey car park and rail links into central London.

The terminal, which took more than 20 years to plan, was officially opened by the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh in a ceremony involving some 800 invited guests.

Chairman of BAA Sir Nigel Rudd said the construction of Terminal 5 had set a new global standard.

"From every perspective, this is a landmark project and I am proud to think that Terminal 5 has become a model construction project, setting new, higher standards for an industry around the world," he said.

Before the opening, John Stewart of Hacan, a residents' campaign group against the new terminal, however claimed that successive governments had gone back on their promises not to build another Heathrow terminal.

"The Queen will be unveiling another broken promise rather than a sparkling new terminal," he said.

"The pall of deceit and collusion will hang over the entire proceedings."

Protests are expected at the airport on the day the terminal opens to the flying public, March 27th.

Heathrow managing director Mark Bullock claimed there were plans in place in the event of any forthcoming demonstrations, saying "we will be ready for them".

The Queen's visit to the west London airport came more than 50 years after she opened its first passenger terminal in 1955.

Yesterday police arrested an intruder and carried out a controlled explosion on his rucksack after he managed to gain entry into the airport and run into the path of an aircraft.