Willie Walsh, the chief executive of British Airways, may come to regret his bombast on Wednesday when he described Heathrow Terminal 5 as offering a level of service that would “put Heathrow back on the global travel map”.

At first his boast appeared to have credibility. The first flight of the day was captained by BA’s first female pilot, Lynn Barton, and touched down a full eight minutes ahead of schedule. It was a debut symbolic of Mr Walsh’s forward-thinking approach in more ways than one.

Unfortunately, the first impression did not last for long. By lunchtime things had started to go horribly pearshaped. The “most sophisticated baggage system in Europe” didn’t work and staff were unable to log on to computers — machines on which they had not been properly trained. The backlog in flights began to build.

Passengers who were told that their journey from the terminal entrance to the departure lounge would take no more than ten minutes queued for hours to find out what had happened to their flight. It seemed that 19 years of designing, planning and building the terminal had failed to ensure the provision of the most basic standards of service.

But, in between apologies, Mr Walsh may take comfort from history, which suggests that major British construction projects are destined to start, if not end, in calamity.

The opening day of the London Millennium Footbridge, in April 2002, was ruined when visitors were made ill by its now infamous wobble. Engineers took two years to eliminate the problem and it has now become one of the capital’s prime attractions.

Leaves were to blame for the unfortunate flooding of the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fountain in Hyde Park, Central London, a day after it was opened by the Queen on July 6 2004. It was shut two weeks later after three people slipped while paddling and had to be hospitalised.

Eurostar’s attempt to show off its new service in October 1994 fell apart when its train refused to start because of an electrical fault. Thirteen years later, the first official fixture at the new Wembley Stadium was marred by long queues and broken lifts.

But perhaps the biggest public relations disaster in British history came on Millennium Eve, when VIPs and newspaper editors were made to queue for hours outside the Millennium Dome because of an administrative error in posting tickets.

Despite history, Mr Walsh will now surely be regretting his promise that customers would “love the space, comfort and convenience” of the terminal, which would offer “a much calmer and more enjoyable way of travelling”.

Passengers' verdicts

“I know there are teething problems, but gee” Michael Barnfield, Miami

“For us it has been a bit of a damp squib because of having to wait so long for the luggage to come through” Denise and Mike Salinger

“Terminal 5 was going to be the answer to everything, but it’s just business as usual and business is still pretty poor” Alistair Carmichael, Liberal Democrat MP

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