Following the recent joining of Air China and Shanghai Airlines with the Star Alliance network, the member carriers serving China have now begun the move to the new terminals at Beijing Capital International Airport and Shanghai Pudong Airport, bringing to fruition further “Move under one Roof” projects in Asia.

Beijing Terminal 3
At Beijing Capital International Airport member carriers Air Canada, Air China, ANA, Asiana Airlines, Austrian, LOT Polish Airlines*, Lufthansa, Scandinavian Airlines, Shanghai Airlines, Singapore Airlines, THAI, Turkish Airlines** and United have all moved to the new Terminal 3 as of today, March 26th, 2008.

The check-in counters for all Star Alliance member carriers are located in areas D and E on the 4th floor of Terminal 3C. First Class and Business Class passengers as well as Star Alliance Gold Card holders have access to the Air China International Lounge located in the main departures area designated as Terminal 3E, on the mezzanine level. The 4,800 square metres of lounge space is divided equally into First and Business Class sections and provides facilities, such as lockers, Internet access, sleeping area and a large food and beverage selection.

In the international arrivals area, the Star Alliance Common Baggage Service Facility run by Air China will be the single point of contact for arriving customers with baggage queries for all Star Alliance member carriers handled by Air China.

The new Terminal 3 (T3) is the largest terminal in mainland China and will serve as the main port of entry for visitors and participants to the 2008 Olympics. Originally begun in March 2004, T3 ranks first worldwide in terms of single terminal size with one million square metres of space. The new Light Railway linking Dongzhimen station in downtown Beijing to the south wing (GTC – Ground Transportation Centre) of T3 will provide a modern, comfortable and convenient access to the terminal for travellers in early July 2008.

In total, the 13 member carriers serving Beijing offer 276 daily flights to 113 destinations in 33 countries.

Shanghai Pudong Terminal 2
At Shanghai – Pudong, member carrier Shanghai Airlines started operations from Terminal 2 today, with Air Canada, Air China, Air New Zealand, ANA, Asiana Airlines, Lufthansa, Singapore Airlines, SWISS***, THAI, Turkish Airlines** and United planning to move on April 29th, 2008.
Shanghai Airlines has their check-in counters located in area J with Air China moving to the adjacent area H. The other Star Alliance member carriers will have their check-in counters located in areas B, C, D and E.

Star Alliance First and Business Class passengers along with Star Alliance Gold Card holders have access to the Shanghai Airlines Lounge, conveniently located in the centre of the International Departure’s Hall. Covering more than 2,000 square metres, it is the most spacious international VIP Lounge in Terminal 2, offering some 400 seats, a massage and rest area as well as showers, making it the first lounge ever in China to be equipped with such a facility. A five-star hotel will provide both authentic Chinese and Western catering for the lounge.

With the capacity to handle 40 million passengers a year, Terminal 2 has been designed to meet the projected needs of the World Expo Shanghai 2010 and is a key project of the Shanghai Pudong Hub. With a total surface of 480,000 square metres, Terminal 2 is by far one of the largest terminal projects and includes a ground transportation complex, road access and related facilities and infrastructure.

Out of Shanghai – Pudong 12 Star Alliance member carriers provide 109 daily flights to 57 destinations in 19 countries.

* = LOT will start Warsaw – Beijing flights as of April 4th, 2008.
** = Turkish Airlines will officially become a Star Alliance member on April 1st, 2008.
*** = SWISS will start Zurich – Shanghai Pudong flights as of May 9th, 2008.

Passengers flying to or from London Heathrow or connecting at the airport are being reminded to check which terminal their flights will use as around 50 airlines there – including British Airways and a number of other oneworld®  members – switch locations in series of moves starting this Thursday (27 March).

The changes will see oneworld airlines consolidate their operations at their main European hub from across all four of the existing terminals into just two terminals.
Minimum connections times between oneworld flights at the airport also change as a result of the moves.

To confirm which terminal their flights will use, passengers should check their airline’s website, or www.heathrowairport.com

This Thursday (27 March) British Airways will switch some 70 per cent of its operations at its home base into the new GBP4.3 billion (US$8.6 billion) Terminal 5.

These include all its domestic and European flights (with the exception of Barcelona, Madrid, Lisbon, Nice and Helsinki), plus its flights serving Tripoli and its longhaul services to and from Hong Kong, Johannesburg, Los Angeles, Miami, San Francisco, Tokyo Narita and Vancouver.

On 30 April, Phase 2 of the moves takes place, with British Airways completing its transfer into Terminal 5, adding a further 20 per cent of its Heathrow flights there, including longhaul flights currently operating at Terminal 4 with the exception of services operated as part of the code-share agreement with Qantas (Bangkok, Singapore and Sydney).

British Airways’ remaining Heathrow operations will move, alongside those of all other oneworld airlines serving the airport, into Terminal 3, which is the closest of the existing terminals to Terminal 5. Alliance partners American Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Japan Airlines and Royal Jordanian are already based at Terminal 3.

On 17 September, British Airways flights serving Barcelona, Madrid, Lisbon, Nice and Helsinki move there from Terminal 1 – along with Finnair’s Heathrow flights, also transferring from Terminal 1, and Iberia’s operations, switching from Terminal 2. Iberia’s sister airline Click Air (which is not part of oneworld) also moves to Terminal 3 at the same time.

Early in 2009, British Airways flights serving Bangkok, Singapore and Sydney (operated with QF code-share) and all Qantas flights move from Terminal 4 to Terminal 3, completing the oneworld relocations.

Terminal 3 is undergoing a massive GBP1 billion (US$2 billion) improvement programme to bring it up to standards similar to the Terminal 5, so all oneworld airlines at Heathrow will be able to offer their customers a state-of-the-art passenger experience whether they are flying to or from London, or transferring there between oneworld airline flights.

Connections between all oneworld member airlines’ flights in Terminals 3 and 5 will be as smooth and seamless as possible. A state-of-the-art underground baggage system to be built in a tunnel under the airport’s taxiways by 2011 will improve transfers between Terminals 3 and 5 still further.

Currently, the standard minimum connecting time (MCT) for passengers connecting between flights by different airlines at the airport is 90 minutes.

MCTs will be reduced to 60 minutes for passengers connecting between:
• British Airways flights both arriving at and departing from Terminal 5.
• Flights by any oneworld member airline both arriving at and departing from Terminal 3, with transfers wholly within Terminal 3 eased by oneworld airlines there sharing or using adjacent facilities, such as check-in desks, gates and lounges.

MCTs involving connections between Terminal 5 and all the airport’s other four terminals will be extended to 120 minutes for the new facility’s first full flying season, with the additional time designed to deliver a robust service while customers and employees become familiar with the new building and transfer processes.

From the beginning of next winter’s flying programme (26 October 2008), MCTs between Terminal 5 and Terminal 3, where the other oneworld airlines and the rest of BA’s operations will consolidate, will be reduced to 90 minutes. The 90-minute MCT will also apply to connections between Terminal 5 and both Terminals 1 and 2, while connections between Terminal 5 and Terminal 4 will be reduced to 110 minutes.

Once the underground automated baggage system is implemented between Terminals 3 and 5 in 2011, MCTs between Terminals 5 and 3 will be further reduced.

British Airways is investing GBP60 million (US$120 million) in what will be the world’s largest suite of airline lounges at Terminal 5, “setting new standards in comfort and luxury” for its First, Club World, Club Europe and Gold and Silver Executive Club customers and oneworld Emerald and Sapphire equivalents. For further details of British Airways’ offering at Terminal 5, see ba.com

British Airways will also be opening new lounges for its First and Business Class passengers at Terminal 3, to be used also by Qantas’ premium passengers, and available also to premium passengers flying with Finnair and Iberia, along with top-tier cardholders from all oneworld airline frequent flyer programmes. American Airlines, Cathay Pacific and Japan Airlines will retain their own lounges at Terminal 3.

oneworld member airlines account for more than 50 per cent of Heathrow’s traffic with around 35 million passengers a year travelling on around 700 departures and arrivals a day.
In total, 50 of the 90 or so airlines serving Heathrow will move terminals in a series of moves starting with British Airways’ first move to Terminal 5 on 27 March. For full details, see heathrowairport.com

Five of the oneworld®member airlines serving Shanghai Pudong are to co-locate in the airport’s new Terminal 2 in a series of moves starting next week.

British Airways and Qantas will transfer to the new facility when it first opens on Wednesday (26 March). Cathay Pacific and its sister Dragonair, along with Finnair, will follow on 29 April.
American Airlines intends to move to Terminal 2 later but will remain in Terminal 1 for now, alongside fellow oneworld member Japan Airlines and their code-share partner China Eastern which will also stay there.

Cathay Pacific and Dragonair will announce details of their new lounge facility in Terminal 2 ahead of their move there. Located airside opposite gate D68, this will be available to Emerald and Sapphire tier cardholders in any oneworld airline frequent flyer programme when flying on any oneworld airline from the terminal, and also to First and Business Class passengers flying on any oneworld airline from the terminal.

Until this new Dragonair/Cathay Pacific lounge opens, premium passengers flying on British Airways or Qantas will be offered the use of the airport’s general premium passenger lounge, also conveniently located in the in the central area of the departure hall.

Japan Airlines will continue to use its own lounge in Terminal 1, and American Airlines will offer its premium passengers the common-use lounge there, although Emerald and Sapphire tier cardholders in any oneworld airline frequent flyer programme flying with American can choose to use the JAL facility there.

Once the airline moves have been completed, Shanghai Pudong’s airport operator will refurbish Terminal 1, to bring it up to comparable standards to Terminal 2.

oneworld airlines offer almost 200 flights a week between them from Shanghai Pudong. Cathay Pacific and Dragonair operate 112 of them, all to their Hong Kong hub, with 15 a day by Dragonair and one daily by Cathay Pacific. Japan Airlines flies from the airport 56 times a week, with four dailies to Tokyo Narita, two a day to Osaka Kansai and daily flights to both Fukuoka and Nagoya. (Japan Airlines also operates daily flights between Shanghai’s other airport, Hongquao, and Tokyo Haneda.) From Pudong, American Airlines, Finnair and Qantas all operate daily departures – to Chicago O’Hare, Helsinki and Sydney respectively. Qantas also offers two flights a week to Melbourne. British Airways operates five a week to London Heathrow.

The changes at Shanghai Pudong come as oneworld carriers at Beijing all also co-locate, into the new Terminal 3 at the Chinese capital. British Airways and Qantas moved into the new facility last month, with Cathay Pacific, Dragonair, Finnair and Japan Airlines following also next Wednesday (26 March).

The following day (Thursday, 27 March) British Airways starts its move into its new Terminal 5 home at London Heathrow in the first of a series of moves that will see the alliance’s carriers at its main European hub consolidate operations from across all four of its existing terminals into just two.

As SkyTeam carriers plan new service and operational relocation to Terminal 4 at London Heathrow International Airport (LHR), the alliance is augmenting its customer-focused presence at LHR – including the previously announced co-location project – with plans for the first co-branded SkyTeam alliance lounge. The lounge project is unique to the alliance in that for the first time, the design for the space is being determined jointly by all ten member or associate airlines serving or planning to serve Heathrow (Aeroflot, Air France, Alitalia, Continental Airlines, Czech Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Kenya Airways, KLM, Korean Air and Northwest Airlines).

The lounge at Heathrow will be the first lounge fully branded as SkyTeam in the alliance network. (Other alliance lounges are maintained by a specific member carrier and access for passengers is shared with other member carriers.) SkyTeam understands that airport lounges are more than just waiting rooms for the frequent traveller. They serve as a home-away-from-home for passengers awaiting departure – a place to work, relax, dine or catch up on reading. In planning the new lounge space, SkyTeam is focusing on offering customers a superior experience that meets their individual needs.

“SkyTeam continues to offer our passengers a superior travel experience before, during, in between and after their flights,” said Giorgio Callegari, chairman of SkyTeam Airport and Infrastructure Special Projects. “Heathrow provides a unique opportunity to build our brand presence from the ground up. We are focused on enhancing our customer offering and a co-branded lounge compliments our previously announced co-location plans. It is an exciting endeavour for the alliance, an opportunity to truly blend the cultures and brand identities of ten member airlines to strengthen the connection our customers have with SkyTeam.”

The new multi-level co-branded lounge will occupy a space of 1,500 square meters and accommodate approximately 325 seats. The first floor will open to alliance passengers travelling through Heathrow, including customers of SkyTeam associate airlines serving the airport (Kenya Airways), this autumn. The space will be completed and the second floor open alliance to passengers in spring 2009, in conjunction with the relocation of the remaining alliance carriers (Aeroflot, Air France, Alitalia, Czech Airlines and Korean Air) to accompany Continental, Delta, Kenya Airways, KLM and Northwest in Terminal 4. Long-term planning for the lounge will accommodate potential growth and the addition of future partners. Until the initial opening of the lounge in autumn, SkyTeam carriers operating out of and passengers departing from Terminal 4 will enjoy access to the current KLM lounge in the terminal, known as the ‘Holideck.’

SkyTeam hired Desgrippes Gobé to develop the creative concept and design of its lounge at LHR. It will invoke the brand identity of the alliance through a look and feel that is welcoming, modern and warm and which expresses movement.

The spacious facility will be complete with the standard features SkyTeam passengers have come to expect, as well as new amenities that take advantage of the latest in design technology. For example, plans are under way for a wellness centre, including showers and therapeutic service offerings such as massages and manicures. Additional features include free wireless Internet access throughout the space.

In addition to the standard service desk area, the lounge space will feature different environments to accommodate a variety of customer needs and expectations. These include a quiet area for passengers needing privacy, a VIP area for First Class passengers and other VIP lounge guests and a children’s area.

Customers using the lounge will enjoy a unique menu of food options – a collaboration of all ten member airlines reflecting national and regional cultural influences. The standard lounge menu, featuring fresh ingredients, will be complemented each month with feature local dishes from a SkyTeam member carrier’s home market.

Airlines in the oneworld® alliance are to bring all their operations together at Beijing International Airport in its new passenger terminal starting from later this week.

They will transfer to the state-of-the-art Terminal 3 in two phases:
• British Airways and Qantas will move on Friday (29 February) – as two of the first six airlines to use the new building.
• The other oneworld airlines serving Beijing – Cathay Pacific, Dragonair, Finnair and Japan Airlines – will all transfer into Terminal 3 on Wednesday 26 March.

All oneworld airlines will use check-in desks in the terminal’s area C.

Dragonair and Cathay Pacific will announce details of their lounge facility in Terminal 3 ahead of their move there.

Premium passengers from other oneworld carriers will have access to the new common use lounge in Beijing Terminal 3, which will be open on 29 February, with separate facilities for First and Business Class passengers.

This lounge is located one floor up from the main departures concourse level, near the airlines’ departure gates. They will offer comfortable environments and a full range of facilities for passengers whether they want to work or relax.

All six oneworld carriers serving Beijing currently operate from its Terminal 2.
Between them, they operate up to 15 departures a day from Beijing non-stop to eight destinations – Hong Kong (up to nine round trips a day), Helsinki, London Heathrow, Nagoya Centrair, Osaka Kansai, Sydney and Tokyo Narita – with smoothest of onwards connections to the near 700 airports they and their oneworld partners serve worldwide.

American Airlines plans to serve China’s capital with daily Boeing 777s from its Chicago O’Hare hub from March 2009.

Designed by British architects Foster and Partners, the US$2 billion Terminal 3 covers one million square metres. With a third runway for the airport opening at the same time, it will double capacity to 76 million passengers a year.

As part of its previously announced plan to increase its presence at London Heathrow International Airport (LHR), SkyTeam, the global airline alliance, unveiled plans today for its new co-located facility in Terminal 4. The alliance is working closely with BAA to develop a customer-focused facility that gives passengers a superior travel experience and helps member airlines grow their businesses.

BAA is coordinating a broad airport relocation project that involves a £100 million (approximately $194.3 million) expansion and renovation of Terminal 4. In conjunction with this effort, SkyTeam is investing in building an alliance co-location facility for all members operating out of Heathrow. The SkyTeam facility will be completed in spring 2009. SkyTeam will offer a common check-in area and other standard features alliance passengers have come to expect. Additionally, alliance customers travelling through Heathrow will have access to several service enhancements, including:
• Common-use self service kiosks;
• More check-in desks; and
• Additional bag drop-off locations.

“Co-locating our member operations at London Heathrow will allow SkyTeam to offer our customers worldwide a superior travel experience in one of the most contested markets in the world,” said Giorgio Callegari, chairman of SkyTeam Airport and Infrastructure Special Projects. “SkyTeam continuously strives to provide our customers with a hassle-free journey before, during, between and after their flights. In order to maximize this customer offering at Heathrow, we are working together as an alliance and with BAA to make the necessary renovation and branding investments in Terminal 4, where we will be the anchor airline alliance.”

Heathrow will be the first airport in which all co-located SkyTeam members will share kiosks, allowing alliance passengers to access travel reservations with any of the ten carriers. The greater number and common-use feature of the kiosks will help improve passenger flow through the terminal, reduce congestion and reduce operating costs for member airlines.

Passengers transferring at Heathrow can take advantage of several non-stop service options, including long-haul destinations such as Nairobi and Seoul; European destinations including Amsterdam, Milan, Moscow, Paris, Prague, Rome and Rotterdam; and U.S. destinations such as Houston, New York, Atlanta and Los Angeles. The addition of SkyTeam’s three U.S. carriers and the co-location of all alliance members to one terminal will allow SkyTeam to increase its service out of Heathrow to nearly 50 daily flights.

“London Heathrow will play a key role in the SkyTeam global network for connecting and point-to-point traffic,” said Mr. Callegari. “It will augment our already superior transatlantic hub system, which includes Paris Charles de Gaulle International Airport (CDG) and Amsterdam Schiphol International Airport (AMS), as well as Houston, New York-JFK, New York Newark and Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson. The development of SkyTeam’s profile at Heathrow is a long-term priority for the alliance, supporting our ongoing focus on providing seamless connections for our customers.”

Although the first-stage open skies agreement takes effect this spring, SkyTeam began taking steps for a shared terminal at Heathrow almost two years ago, when nine members signed a Memorandum of Understanding with BAA in 2006 to co-locate their facilities. Since then, SkyTeam members and BAA have jointly determined the optimal design of Terminal 4 to ensure that passengers enjoy a travel experience of the highest quality. The planned renovations will result in better traffic flow for passengers making their way to their departure gates due to an extended and refurbished departure concourse.

As previously announced, SkyTeam’s move to Terminal 4 will take effect over the next 12 months. In phase one, at the end of March 2008, the U.S. carriers (Continental Airlines, Delta Air Lines and Northwest Airlines) will join KLM Royal Dutch Airlines and Kenya Airways, who already operate out of Terminal 4. In the spring of 2009, the remaining SkyTeam carriers operating out of Heathrow (Aeroflot, Air France, Alitalia, CSA and Korean Air) will relocate. BAA anticipates approximately 10 million passengers* will be served out of Terminal 4 once all airline moves are complete and the ten SkyTeam alliance carriers are operating out of the co-location.

Member airlines of the oneworld® alliance that will change locations at London Heathrow this year all confirmed today the schedule for their moves and minimum connection times at the airport resulting from the moves.

The changes will result in the eight oneworld airlines that serve the airport consolidating their operations from across all four of the existing terminals into just two terminals at the alliance’s main European hub.

Between them, these airlines account for more than 50 per cent of Heathrow’s traffic with around 35 million passengers a year travelling on around 700 departures and arrivals a day.
British Airways, for which London Heathrow is its home base, will consolidate more than 90 per cent of its operations at the airport into the new GBP4.3 billion (US$8.6 billion) Terminal 5 (T5), in two phases, on 27 March and 30 April.

Its remaining Heathrow operations will move, alongside those of all other oneworld airlines serving the airport, into Terminal 3, which is the closest of the existing terminals to Terminal 5. These British Airways Terminal 3 moves will take place on 17 September and in early 2009.
oneworld partners American Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Japan Airlines and Royal Jordanian are already based at Terminal 3. Finnair will move there from Terminal 1 and Iberia from Terminal 2, also on 17 September, with Qantas following from Terminal 4 in early 2009.

Terminal 3 is undergoing a massive GBP 1 billion (US$2 billion) improvement programme to bring it up to standards similar to the Terminal 5, so all oneworld airlines at Heathrow will be able to offer their customers a state-of-the-art passenger experience whether they are flying to or from London, or transferring there between oneworld airline flights.

Connections between all oneworld member airlines’ flights in Terminals 3 and 5 will be as smooth and seamless as possible. A state-of-the-art underground baggage system to be built in a tunnel under the airport’s taxiways by 2011 will improve transfers between Terminals 3 and 5 still further.

British Airways says its new Terminal 5 base will “restore the prestige of the UK’s national hub and set standards of passenger comfort and convenience which will surpass those of its European rivals at Paris Charles De Gaulle, Amsterdam Schiphol and Frankfurt”.

It is investing GBP60 million (US$120 million) there in what will be the world’s largest suite of airline lounges, “setting new standards in comfort and luxury” for its First, Club World, Club Europe and Gold and Silver Executive Club customers and oneworld Emerald and Sapphire equivalents.
British Airways will also be opening new lounges for its First and Business Class passengers at Terminal 3, to be used also by Qantas’ premium passengers, and available also to premium passengers flying with Finnair and Iberia, along with top-tier cardholders from all oneworld airline frequent flyer programmes. American Airlines, Cathay Pacific and Japan Airlines will retain their own lounges at Terminal 3.

In total, 50 of the 90 or so airlines serving Heathrow will move terminals in a series of moves starting with British Airways’ first move to Terminal 5 on 27 March. For full details, see heathrowairport.com

Transfer times
Minimum connecting times (MCTs) for passengers transferring between flights by oneworld member airlines at London Heathrow will change as a result of the terminal moves.
Currently, the standard MCT for passengers connecting between flights by different airlines at the airport is 90 minutes.

MCTs will be reduced to 60 minutes for passengers connecting between:
• British Airways flights both arriving at and departing from Terminal 5.
• Flights by any oneworld member airline both arriving at and departing from Terminal 3.

Transfers wholly within Terminal 3 will be eased by oneworld airlines there sharing or using adjacent facilities, such as check-in desks, gates and lounges.

MCTs involving connections between Terminal 5 and all the airport’s other four terminals will be extended to 120 minutes for the new facility’s first full flying season, with the additional time designed to deliver a robust service while customers and employees become familiar with the new building and transfer processes.

From the beginning of next winter’s flying programme (26 October 2008), MCTs between Terminal 5 and Terminal 3, where the other oneworld airlines and the rest of BA’s operations will consolidate, will be reduced to 90 minutes. The 90-minute MCT will also apply to connections between Terminal 5 and both Terminals 1 and 2, while connections between Terminal 5 and Terminal 4 will be reduced to 110 minutes.

Once the underground automated baggage system is implemented between Terminals 3 and 5 in 2011, MCTs between Terminals 5 and 3 will be further reduced.