British Airways has this week opened a dedicated business class check-in zone at Heathrow Terminal 5.

The opening represents a U-turn for the airline, which originally said that only passengers in First or Gold members of the airline’s Executive Club frequent flyer programme would benefit from dedicated check-in.

The area is in Zone H next to the first class area and security gate and includes 16 fast bag drops, 16 check-in kiosks and four customer service desks. However, the carrier is still encouraging passengers to check in online before arriving at the airport.

T5 customer experience manager Paul Nickson said: “This increased capacity means that even more business class customers are flying through Terminal 5 so it’s a good time to introduce the dedicated zone.”