British Airways has further delayed the move of its remaining long-haul flights to Terminal 5 in a bid to avoid the chaotic scenes of the terminal’s March opening.

The flights will now be moved to Terminal 5 in three phases – 15 flight pairs (arrivals and departures) on June 5, 30 flights pairs on September 17, and 15 flights pairs at the end of October. By the winter, Terminal 5 should be handling around 75 long-haul flights pairs a day, compared to its current tally of 15 a day.

BA says the decision has not been driven by any ongoing problems with Terminal 5.

In a joint statement with airport operator BAA, the airline said: “Terminal 5 is working well, and this phased move has been planned in the interests of our passengers and the smooth operation of Heathrow over the busy summer period.”

The carrier had originally planned to move all but three of its long-haul flights to Terminal 5 by April 30, but the disasterous opening of the BA-dedicated terminal forced the airline to re-think its plans.

Last month it announced plans to delay the move to June, but this latest announcement pushes the move back until after the peak travel period over the summer.

The delay in the transition of BA flights has knock-on effects for the 54 other carriers at Heathrow, which had planned to move into the vacant spots at Terminal 4 over the summer. Among the airlines that will be affected by this delay are Air New Zealand, United Airlines and Air France-KLM.

The long-haul flights currently operating from Terminal 5 are to Hong Kong, Johannesburg, Los Angeles, Miami, San Francisco, Tokyo, Vancouver.

Full details of the Terminal 5 flight moves are on the BA website.

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