Yesterday saw me coming home via Heathrows T5 again. Since the last switch of flights the place now has a slightly busier feel and there seem to be a lot more confused people wandering around in need of help than prior to the switch. How can such a large building feel “busy” at one of the quietest times of the week is a mystery.

The security arrangements at T5 are unique. Hopefully they’ll stay that way. At a time when other majour airports are finally getting their security screening working properly (and flexibly) using the well tried and tested belts and baskets, it’s odd to see the T5 solution. I’m sure it was seen as “innovative” and “ground breaking” (insert your own marketing speak here) when proposed, but why it was needed is a mystery (although I’m certain the company that developed and installed it was very grateful for the income it generated). The use of modern x-rays means you don’t need to remove your laptop, which ought to be a bonus and make things faster, but sadly it doesn’t as they insist everything has to go in the supplied bins. These whizz back and forth, but there are only 3 available to be loaded at any time. The operatives keep trying to have 3 people loading them at the same time, but the sad truth is that everyone needs at least 2 trays (as EVERYTHING MUST go in a bin, even bags that are quite capable of travelling on the rollers by themselves), so this “3 at once” routine doesn’t work. The inevitable delays mean long, slow moving queues to pass through security. As there are now tighter time restrictions on boarding than anywhere else in the world this leads to more frustration, which leads to people missing things going through security, which leads to more delays…

As soon as you get through security you are confronted by the inevitable shopping mall – T5 is, after all, run by BAA.