Airport operator BAA is extending taxi management systems to Heathrow Terminal 5 to handle a predicted one million taxi movements when the 2012 Olympics begin.

IT services provider Steria has already deployed the system at existing terminals and will expand it to the new £4bn Terminal 5 when it opens in March 2008.

The system will reduce taxi waiting times at what will be the world’s busiest airport and allow it control and track taxi access to the terminals.

Fixed and handheld devices will monitor taxis, which will be equipped with radio frequency identification (RFID) tags, to identify vehicles and their drivers. Data will then be transmitted back to system headquarters over a wireless network.

Staff will also be able to communicate using the devices to ensure flexibility in the event of unplanned events like road works or accidents.

The system has provided significant benefits since it was rolled out to terminals 1 to 4, says Izaura Padrao, BAA general manager of Heathrow commercial transport.

‘The system can respond to real time variations in demand, is faster, fairer and can significantly improve taxi flow around the airport,’ he said. ‘This has delivered added service by further reducing waiting times.’

It has already delivered a 20 per cent increase in the number of registered taxis using the terminal, with more registrations expected in the build up to the 2012 Olympics.

‘Terminal 5 is an extremely important development for BAA, therefore we selected a supplier who we could trust to deliver what is a complex integration project,’ he said.

Steria currently provides its taxi management system for Terminals one to four, handline over 60 transactions per minute.