Protests and delays mar T5 opening

Baggage delays and a flash mob protest have marred the opening of Heathow Airport's £4.3 billion Terminal 5.A sophisticated luggage system was supposed to be able to handle 12,000 bags an hour, dramatically improving the luggage performance of airport operator BAA and British Airways.But after bags came through very quickly following the arrival of the first flight into the new terminal from Hong Kong early today, within four hours some passengers were having to wait up to 75 minutes to collect their luggage.Passengers arriving in the sparkling new building complained of being given no information about the bags, apart from being told there were either technical difficulties or a technical defect.Mark Geoghegan, 34, arriving from Los Angeles with his friend Lisa Evans, 27, finally emerged in the arrivals hall two-and-a-quarter hours after his flight touched down.Mr Geoghegan, from Tottenham, north London, said: "We've had a long wait for our bags. Nobody really knew what was going on. They were in the dark as much as we were."The terminal doesn't really seem finished. There was still work going on. We could hear drills going."British Airways made a public address announcement saying that there were delays to baggage collection due to a technical problem but the airline has not elaborated further.BAA later revealed there had been "a minor problem with log-on with the baggage system" that had affected some outbound flights.T5's first fully operational day also saw about 250 protesters stage a demonstration to show their opposition to aviation growth.Billed as a "flash mob" protest, the demonstration involved people stripping off their outer clothes at 11am to reveal red T-shirts emblazoned with the slogan "Stop Airport Expansion".Watched over by many police officers - some of them armed - the protesters staged their demonstration in the arrivals hall at 11am. Some later re-gathered with a number staging a lie down protest.Police made no initial attempt to move the demonstrators who seemed content to carry on the demonstration from a prone position.© Independent Television News Limited 2008. All rights reserved.

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ITN | March 27, 2008