Airport operator BAA and British Airways have begun joint testing of Heathrow Terminal 5 (T5) systems ahead of its scheduled opening on 27 March 2008.

BA has been testing its systems since April, including check-in, self-service kiosks, and back-office applications, but last week began testing of integrated systems with BAA.

T5 features more than 160 individual systems, 9,000 connected devices, 2,000 laptops and 1,600 IP phones.

Joint systems include airport management, baggage handling, passenger scheduling and security systems, says BA head of information management programme Glenn Morgan.

‘We want to allow plenty of time to iron out the bugs before we begin proving trials in September,’ he said. ‘I do not know of any other airport that has tested its systems this far ahead of its opening.’

BAA will hand over control of T5 to BA on 17 September, and 14,000 people will act as virtual passengers and test the experience from September to May.

‘Passengers want to speed through the airport, and these tests will allow us to check that everything works as it should,’ said BA chief information officer Paul Coby.

‘IT is fundamental to T5 and is at the heart of everything it does. It will deliver a complete step change after the experience of terminals one to four, which no one claims is hassle-free.’

The development of T5 has required changes to almost 70 Heathrow systems, says BAA director of business critical systems Nick Gaines.

‘Our joint integrated testing will ensure we do not have the problems of other big airport projects,’ he said.