Virgin Atlantic to revamp Heathrow Terminal 3

Virgin Atlantic has unveiled plans to revamp Heathrow’s Terminal 3 in a bid to compete with BA’s new T5 to be launched next March. The relaunched terminal will be open by the end of the year.

The airline says the terminal will be “wider, brighter and more spacious” and will also offer a “Drive-thru” check in area for its Upper Class passengers. It says it expects 80% of its passengers at Heathrow to be using online and kiosk Check In by the end of 2008.

Virgin chief executive Steve Ridgway says: “We estimate that it will take the majority of our passengers under 15 minutes to check in and get through to the departure lounge and even less time for our Upper Class passengers to get to the Clubhouse.”

The development has been designed by Foster Partners in conjunction with Virgin’s in-house design team and is part of BAA’s 10-year investment plan for the terminal.