London Heathrow airport has opened an extension to Terminal 5, three years after inauguration of the main building at the British Airways hub.
The £340 million ($554 million) satellite extension, designated T5C, has 12 gates including eight triple-bridged stands for accommodating the Airbus A380.
British Airways is to acquire 12 of the double-deck aircraft from 2013.
The satellite extension is the third section of Terminal 5 to open since operations started with the original main building in March 2008. Terminal 5 has handled over 520,000 flights in that time, says British Airways.
Linked to the main structure by an underground transit, the extension will provide capacity for an additional 3 million passengers per year. Next year a dedicated transfer baggage tunnel will open between the T5C satellite and Terminal 3.
Source: Air Transport Intelligence news
