Heathrow's Terminal 5 opened today with a great fanfair. By mid afternoon the much vaunted, computerised, luggage system was shut down and dozens of flights cancelled.
However the 11am Flashmob went ahead without a hitch.
However the 11am Flashmob went ahead without a hitch.
Stop
Now
10.59, and the International Arrivals area was a predictable dull grey.
11.00, and it turned red, as hundreds of activists stripped off their outer layers to reveal their 'Stop Airport Expansion' T-shirts.
We'd all taken cameras, expecting to crack of a couple of shots and run to the bogs to hide the memory cards but - no need!. The balcony above was packed shoulder to shoulder with photographers and film crews, all ignoring the meedja ops provided by BAA in favour of covering the Flashmob.
Later coverage was disappointing (dunno about tomorrows papers) but because even better news was emerging that the T5 opening had turned out to be a complete fuck up. After promising to the flying world that Heathrow's problems were licked, the place ground to a miserable halt within hours.
Amongst others, www.news.bbc.co.uk writes:
"The suspension of luggage check-in was just the latest problem to hit passengers hoping to leave T5 on its opening day.
BA earlier announced "initial teething problems" with car parking provision, delays in staff security screening and staff familiarisation had resulted in a backlog of baggage. "
Very good news indeed for everyone except BA and BAA. Now all we have to wait for is for BAA and its parent company Ferrovial to go bust, widely expected to happen less than a year from now, see:
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/3ca6b20a-fad7-11dc-aa46-000077b07658.html
11.00, and it turned red, as hundreds of activists stripped off their outer layers to reveal their 'Stop Airport Expansion' T-shirts.
We'd all taken cameras, expecting to crack of a couple of shots and run to the bogs to hide the memory cards but - no need!. The balcony above was packed shoulder to shoulder with photographers and film crews, all ignoring the meedja ops provided by BAA in favour of covering the Flashmob.
Later coverage was disappointing (dunno about tomorrows papers) but because even better news was emerging that the T5 opening had turned out to be a complete fuck up. After promising to the flying world that Heathrow's problems were licked, the place ground to a miserable halt within hours.
Amongst others, www.news.bbc.co.uk writes:
"The suspension of luggage check-in was just the latest problem to hit passengers hoping to leave T5 on its opening day.
BA earlier announced "initial teething problems" with car parking provision, delays in staff security screening and staff familiarisation had resulted in a backlog of baggage. "
Very good news indeed for everyone except BA and BAA. Now all we have to wait for is for BAA and its parent company Ferrovial to go bust, widely expected to happen less than a year from now, see:
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/3ca6b20a-fad7-11dc-aa46-000077b07658.html 
Comments
Hide the following 2 comments
The public?
28.03.2008 09:31
The report doesn't mention what kind of reaction the flash mob got from the public. I think this is really important- if lots of people came and asked questions then it's a good action. If people ignored the flash mob, then it probably wasn't very effective at all.
Were the protesters mainly anarcho-types or were they locals?
Rising Tension
Lone protest march against airport expansion
28.03.2008 09:34
The protester, holding a placard reading “Stop Airport Expansion”, set off from Parliament Square at around 10am, walking past the Houses of Parliament and down to the Department for Transport building on Horseferry Road, stopping outside for a quarter of an hour unchallenged. Building security, no doubt mindful of recent actions carried out at the site in opposition to airport and road expansion, closed off the revolving door within minutes.
The protester then continued to BAA’s unmarked head office at 130 Wilton Road (7th floor), round the corner from Victoria station, arriving shortly before 11am, when the flash mob protest was due to start at Terminal 5. He stood outside for 20 minutes, chanting the mantra “BAA’s headquarters here – no third runway at Heathrow – no more airport expansion – think about the future of the planet, not short-term profit”, thus giving the company’s workers entering and leaving the premises something else to think about as they tore their hair out over Terminal 5’s inauspicious opening day.
List of BAA’s offices in the UK that may warrant a visit:
dv
e-mail:
dv2012 [at] yahoo.co.uk