Jaumett From Spain, joined Mar 2001, 42 posts, RR: 0 Posted (7 years 2 months 2 weeks 2 days 19 hours ago) and read 1699 times:
Two days ago I flew JFK-AMS-LHR arriving into Heathrow's Terminal 4. The fact that KLM seemed the only other airline operating there, in addition to BA, got me wondering... Why is that? Why doesn't KLM operate into the other terminals, like the other major European airlines I saw?
Also, I noticed in the underground that a sign directed you to LHR's T1,2,3 or T4 depending on your airline. In the case of BA, depending on your long haul destination, the subway station is different. Why does BA split its l/h operations? Is it only a matter of capacity, or there are other reasons? And was there a specific criterion to assign flights to either terminal?
Anyways, the whole thing seemed weird and got me wondering. So I thought someone at a.net might know.
Iluv747400 From United States of America, joined Jan 2000, 368 posts, RR: 0 Reply 1, posted (7 years 2 months 2 weeks 2 days 19 hours ago) and read 1688 times:
Other carriers operating at T4 include Kenya Airways, Asiana, and Qantas off the top of my head.
Also the signs on the tube provide enough detail for BA passengers, with lists of destinations served from the various terminals.
I suspect the division of longhaul and shorthaul traffic among the terminals is due to gate space and aircraft scheduling. Clearly BA would prefer to be entirely under one roof, but that's still several years away.
Airways45 From United Kingdom, joined May 2000, 299 posts, RR: 0 Reply 2, posted (7 years 2 months 2 weeks 2 days 19 hours ago) and read 1681 times:
BA shifted some of its long-haul routes to T1 so as to be better for transfer passengers. However, in return, it shifted some short haul routes from T1 to T4. Some of it's most lucrative routes were moved to T1 including Tokyo and Hong Kong.
Aussiestu From Australia, joined Mar 2001, 778 posts, RR: 1 Reply 3, posted (7 years 2 months 2 weeks 2 days 18 hours ago) and read 1646 times:
Its always interested me why KLM operates from T4, the only European airline that does. Could this be due to the many times that BA and KLM have tried to cooperate or merge? I still believe that a BA/KLM merger would have been better than a KLM/AF or BA/IB will be. Only time will tell.
Having spent many hours downroute talking to both KLM crews and AF crews I believe that BA/KLM would have been a WORLD leader. We will never know!
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