Qantas move to Heathrow Terminal 3

[Matt D]

Qantas' scheduled move from T4 to T3 is set to go ahead at the end of October.

T3 is one of the 3 older 'infield' terminals between the runways.

Despite the recent revamp T3 is still somewhat dire. Not a great deal of seating, low ceilings, crowded departure areas.

Car/taxi traffic jams are normal into the terminal, with 15-20 min delays not unusual.

But on the positive side, its not T4 :)

http://www.qantas.com.au/travel/airlines/london-terminal-3/global/en?int_cam=au:terminal3

Matt

[Ash W]

BAA have done a horrid job at the refurb at T3. On the outside the departures looks good but inside, different story. I don't understand why they didn't extend the departures building out thus making more room inside rather than put a glass canopy over the pavement outside. The only decent check-in area is where Virgin Atlantic is located, but still a tad on the small side.

All the other check-in areas are still the small isle style where you get herded like sheep waiting to be sheared, then you have to go up the shoot (escalator) to the departure gates, also very shearing shed like!

Airside the only decent pier is pier 6 which I think this is the only pier with A380 capable gates, though I think they are dual air birdge gates, one for top and one for bottom deck. The rest of the gates and the terminal are disgraceful for a world class airport.

BAA also has this thing whereby they won't announce departure gate allocation until about 1 hour before flight (even though quite often an A/C might have been on stand for a good 2 hours). The cynic in me says this is so they can keep the punters in the shopping area until the last minute. Of course they have limited seating in this area, to force people to walk around the shops and maybe spend some more. All their airports and terminals are like this, it is even worse at T5 when your flight might be leaving from the B pier.

Arrivals looks like it hasn't even been touched in 25 years. The entry into immigration is a choke point with queues leading up the stairs and the reclaim hall looks like something out of the early 80's. The arrivals hall is too small and at certain times of the day is just full of people.

T4 wasn't perfect, but after it's refurb will probably be one of the better terminals. At least it has wide open walk ways (unlike the small corridors of T3 and T1/2) and the crowds not that bad. The only downside to T4 now is the lack of Heathrow express. Having to get the connect then change at Heathrow central is a pain in the bum.

[Philip Argy]

I'll be transiting LHR next Saturday from QF31 to a BA flight to GVA and again the following week in reverse for the return trip on QF32. Any tips for making the LHR changeover as painfree as possible?

I normally do this Geneva trip via Frankfurt but thought I'd treat myself to J class on the A380 this time as I've not had a chance to try it yet. I've got seats 17A westbound and 17K eastbound - are they decent seats? I don't want to be over the wing. Would have preferred the smaller 11-13 cabin but online seat selection was broken when I tried.

[Lee G]

Phillip,

I believe row 17 on the A380 is just forward of the wing root so you should be OK regarding overwing. Unfortunately rows 11-13 on both the forward and return flight are already full so I couldn't get you moved to one of those seats.

[Matt_L]

BAA have done a horrid job at the refurb at T3. On the outside the departures looks good but inside, different story. I don't understand why they didn't extend the departures building out thus making more room inside rather than put a glass canopy over the pavement outside.


Didnt mean to get off topic- but i did:) CLK- Hong Kong intl airport has what I think is one of the best departure/arrival terminal layouts. A few hours before each flight flight numbers are displayed on boards periodically located along the road inbound to the airport and cars/taxis/buses then stop where the flight number is and this leads directly through glass doors to the checkin area for the said flight.

Awesome system and what a great terminal!

[Steve Jones]

I flew out of T3 on SQ just last night. During the peak evening long-haul departure period (when most of QF's services would be leaving) it is utter bedlam - not enough seats, crowded and dirty bathrooms and long lines at security. Add to that a couple of QF 744/380 departures and it will only get worse.

The check-in area is also overcrowded.

[Bruce Bramwell]

Despite the recent revamp T3 is still somewhat dire. Not a great deal of seating, low ceilings, crowded departure areas

Can't do anything about the ceiling mate its got a preservation order slapped all over it.

Apparently its the biggest piece of granit out there and is swarming with fossils etc, thus they cant move it!

Seating - you just have to look... Dont do what everyone else does walk right in and sit right down. move on plenty! [Anyone remember that song?]

[Robert S]

During the peak evening long-haul departure period (when most of QF's services would be leaving) it is utter bedlam.

Oh great. :(

I notice that (unsurprisingly) BA will also move their BKK/SIN/SYD flights to T3 as well, just to add to the mix.

It's ages away but next year I'll be passing through, arriving on BA ex BUD via T5 at 17:15 and departing on VS for HKG via T3 at 22:30. The idea was that this would be a nice generous amount of time. How much time do you really need to devote to surviving T3?

[Anthony T]

T5-T3 transfer & checkin should not be more than 45 mins, then allow 20 for security and then 5-15 mins to walk to your T3 gate, all up about 90 mins max.

Don't worry about the displays in T3 food court/ shopping centre not showing a gate, ask at check-in or go find it yourself, and do some spotting depending on the gate, or find one with a view. :cool:

T3 at LHR is a bit like Ryanair, play by thier rules and you will be fine.

Anthony T

[Matt D]

... it is utter bedlam - not enough seats, crowded and dirty bathrooms and long lines at security.

Unfortunately this is not a one-off, but par for the course and one of the reasons BA (T5) gets a better share of custom than they deserve.

At the moment many of the Australia-bound departures are T3: Etihad, Emirates, Cathay, MAS, Thai, Virgin, SIA. Not alot that they or QF can do about it :)

[Robert S]

T3 at LHR is a bit like Ryanair, play by thier rules and you will be fine.

Thanks for that... no wuckers then. :)

[Ash W]

Can't do anything about the ceiling mate its got a preservation order slapped all over it.

Apparently its the biggest piece of granit out there and is swarming with fossils etc, thus they cant move it!

Seating - you just have to look... Dont do what everyone else does walk right in and sit right down. move on plenty! [Anyone remember that song?]

Yeah there is plenty of seating, though as I said they do not put the gate number up until 1 hour before departure. So how do you know which pier to go to to take a seat away from the shops. It is all part of the ploy to get you into the shops. All the BAA terminals I have used (all 5 at Heathrow and 2 at Gatwick) are the same.

[Anthony T]

Do VS have early check-in?

If so, drop your bags and get a bus to Heathrow - north side (free travel in the Heathrow transit zone) and either spot at 27R or go to a pub for a feed and a few refreshments. :p

I reccomend here http://www.beerintheevening.com/pubs/s/85/8551/Pheasant/Harlington

Pilots & cabin crew hang out here. ;)

Anthony T

[Robert S]

Dont do what everyone else does walk right in and sit right down. move on plenty! [Anyone remember that song?]

Off topic, but yes... as does YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YN9jOcC7taU), of course. Now back on topic...

Do VS have early check-in? If so, drop your bags and get a bus to Heathrow - north side (free travel in the Heathrow transit zone) and either spot at 27R or go to a pub for a feed and a few refreshments. :p

I will attempt to make arrangements to use online check-in before departing Budapest. If possible this would be 24 hours before, but I'll be with relatives in the country and everyone else will likely be asleep at that time... at least the boarding pass does not need to be printed and can be printed at kiosk check-in or simply picked up at the bag drop, so as long as I can get my netbook online somehow I'll be sweet... and I've already selected seats for what that's worth.

The website is not 100% clear about oldschool checkin times at Heathrow, but says checkin opens at 0600 and closes 1 hour prior to departure, so I doubt it will be an issue. The bigger issue is that I'll be travelling with Mum, although she may just want to go and sit down somewhere. This said, she is forever scarred by a refuelling stop in Abu Dhabi 20 years ago where it was well noted that there were few seats in the main part of the terminal and all of these had people sleeping on them. Oh yeah and of course this is where all the airport stores were. So using this thread as a guide I may advise her that LHR T3 is the same deal and we may wish to rack off elsewhere after check-in - a pub meal may be the ticket, so thanks for that suggestion. :)