I was lucky enough yesterday to get a guided tour of Heathrow's new Terminal 5 for an upcoming feature I'm writing for the June issue of Airline Business on the transformation taking place at the London airport.
As I donned my hard hat, safety goggles and big clompy workman boots ready to tromp around the construction site, I was struck by the thought that whoever said journalism was a glamourous career choice was lying.
Lack of glamour aside though, I couldn't help but be impressed by the sheer size of the main terminal building, particularly the height of it.
When T5 opens in March 2008, passengers will check-in on the top floor, which is connected to the drop-off point and multi-storey car park by a series of glass and steel walkways.
Not being the hugest fan of heights, I stood back a little as my guide pointed over the edge of the walkway to show me the tree-lined plaza below.
BAA is also planning to make improvements to Terminal 3, which will house Virgin Atlantic and the oneworld alliance, and Terminal 4, the soon-to-be home of the SkyTeam alliance, as part of its transformation programme for Heathrow
T5 was designed by the Richard Rogers Partnership, the same group of architects that designed the recently-opened Terminal 4 at Madrid Barajas airport.
While I have to admit that I prefer the high, sloping bamboo ceilings of the Madrid terminal to the glass and steel of T5, it has to be said that Heathrow's newest terminal beats the pants off the tired-looking, low-ceilinged, psycadelic green-flecked-carpeted Terminal 2, which is thankfully set to be demolished ahead of the planned new Heathrow East Terminal.
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