BAA gains approval for new Heathrow terminal

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The UK government today gave its approval for BAA to build its long-planned London Heathrow airport terminal five. Transport secretary Stephen Byers announced the decision this afternoon in parliament, after a four-year public inquiry, and amid protests from environmental activists and local authorities.

But BAA will have to work under several conditions, including a limit of 480,000 flights a year at the location (there were 460,000 last year) as well as restrictions on night flights.

BAA has said it hopes the new terminal will open by 2007. The move could boost Heathrow's total passenger capacity to over 90m a year. In retail terms it is worth over 443,000sq ft (41,170sq m) of commercial space, almost equivalent to Heathrow's four existing terminals combined.

Speaking as BAA's half-year results were released late last month, ceo Mike Hodgkinson said: "The need for T5 is the same as when the company first submitted the planning application [14 years ago]. In the long term there will be a shortage of airport terminal capacity, and T5 is about quality as well as capacity." He said work was urgently required if Heathrow was to continue to compete on the world stage.