T2 in LHR
Posted: 04 Aug 2014, 21:05I have just done my second trip in and out of T2 at LHR and I thought I’d post some information about the experiences as all of them have shown different facets of the terminal.
First trip:
Outbound from Cork
This was a trip to connect with a BA trip to Las Vegas (and yes, the TR is done and is about to be/has just been posted.) I was using Flight Connections to T5 and our arrival was on the second day of EI’s move from T1. Aer Lingus seem to be using gates A21-26 which face the runway but not the one facing the hotels on the Bath Road. When we arrived, we had to walk upstairs, along a corridor parallel to the runway, downstairs (and I can’t remember if we went up an escalator again) It was a long walk, with loos and drinking fountains along the way and eventually we reached an area where there were signs for Border Control to the left and for Flight Connections to the right. The Border Control area was tensa-ed - and at this stage was deserted. Most of the passengers went in that direction but I headed right for the escalator down to Flight Connections where there are three doors; one for buses to T3, one for T4 and one for T5. What struck me about it was the long walk although there was lots of natural light, wide corridors and loos along the way.
Inbound to Cork
The bus from T5 brought me to T2 directly but some go to T1 first. We arrived at a point a few metres before the boarding point I mentioned above and going up the escalator found myself along the same corridor I had walked along ten days earlier. However when I got to the point of Border Control/Flight Connections there was a sign for straight ahead for connections in T2 and also T1. At the end of the corridor, one went right for T1 and to the left for T2. There was a security check where the boarding pass was scanned and photo taken as well a having hand luggage scanned. This brought you immediately into the departure lounge where there were a few airline desks at the entrance. It was bright and airy with plenty of seating and at regular intervals, charging points for phones, laptops etc. There were plenty of places to eat around the perimeter as well as Boots and the ubiquitous WH Smith. There seemed to be a mezzanine area with shops but I did not investigate them. I spent some time charging my phone and iPad before going to the gate area which for EI is parallel to the runway and very pleasant. Mind you anything would be better than the awful departure gates in T1! Halfway down the corridor is a multi-faith prayer room and (from the sublime to the ridiculous) loos. At the gate when boarding is when your boarding pass is re-scanned and your photo is verified. It does slow down the boarding process but it also acts as a bit of crowd control in the jetway.
Second trip:
Outbound from Cork
This flight was terminating in LHR. We arrived at the same gate as before and I prepared myself for the same long walk as three weeks previously. It was not to be. Once off the jetway we followed signs for baggage claim as before but instead of turning off to the right we went straight ahead and immediately were in the baggage hall complete with carousels! This hadn’t happened before! Because I had only hand luggage I looked for an exit and there it was in front of me and within seconds I was in the Arrivals Hall with all the guys with their signs looking for Mr X, Y and Z. I was puzzled but when I thought about it, it made perfect sense. Ireland is part of the Common Travel Area and in T1, although we had our own carousels, we walked off the plane straight to them and then through to an area where the domestic carousels were located. No Border Control for us. All I could think of was that it was early teething problems, although I did wonder if they had all followed me lemming-like as I made my way to Flight Connections as I had been one of the first off the plane. Then I remembered there were a few people ahead of me so I wasn't the Pied Piper of London!
To get to taxis and buses one has to cross a walkway bridge which leads to lifts to take you down to the areas where the taxis and the hotel and car park buses depart. As I was going to visit a relative in Hillingdon Hospital before my final destination in London I had time to kill and decided to have something to eat. There are really only Costa Coffee places, an M&S food place and others similar so I headed up to Departures as there was a Wetherspoons and a couple of other eateries. It was a typical Wetherspoons but then I didn’t expect 5* food. The better dining places were airside. 
Inbound to Cork
My trip to LHR was by London Underground and early enough on a Sunday morning the Piccadilly Line was nice and empty once the tourists had got off at South Ken (well apart from the crowd who got on there en route to Knightsbridge!!
) ). Arriving at LHR, the area was familiar to anyone who has arrived there by the Tube. When coming from T1 and arriving at the station you go right for T3 and left for T2. Coming off the Underground it’s right once you are in the main concourse then right for T3 and left for T2 (in other words the old walkway to T2 although poshed up fit to beat the band y) ) As an aside, coming and going to the Heathrow Express is along the same route - there is no direct link to the HEX in T2 (as I discovered as you will find out in my TR ): ). Once in the T2 area there is a lift to Departures and a walkway over to the main T2 building. Aer Lingus (and Little Red) check-in is in the C area almost just ahead of the entrance into the departures area. It is Little Red ready. The desks announce it will open on September 10 and the check-in kiosks feature both Aer Lingus and Little Red. y) I was unable to use the kiosk (as was also true in Cork, probably because my original flight had been cancelled) but the check-in area was fine and just alongside the way to security. The entrance to security is spacious with areas to place your carry-on bags to enable you to remove your liquids bag and there are people patrolling the area with bags in case they are needed. Once ready, you scan your boarding pass and have your photo taken (just as in T1) before heading to security which was the most efficient one I have ever experienced. There were footprints on the floor for three passengers in front of the area where you load your belongings and people seemed to respect it and waited to be called forward! Whether that continues when T2 becomes fully operational remains to be seen but it was refreshing and the security guys seemed to appreciate it. Once through you arrived on the mezzanine level which had another range of shops including Ted Baker (an airport regular) and John Lewis!!! OK, so you can’t buy a television, or a kitchen or a length of material but they did have a nice but small collection of clothing and household goods. There was also a Dixons (quelle surprise!), WH Smith, Boots, a couple of eateries that I can’t remember and a few other things I can’t remember.
At the moment the flights that are using T2 are United, Air Canada, Swiss and Aegean. Swiss, United and Air Canada seem to be using the B gates which seem to be some way away but T2 really needs to look at its signage as this was seen at gates 21-26. After that, it was as I described before.
From my perspective, I love T2 but then when you’ve spent the last God-knows-how-long in the awful tubes that the ROI flights use even the worst parts of T3 are infinitely better. OK there are still things to be sorted and whether it will be still as smooth when it gets fully operational remains to be seen.
First trip:
Outbound from Cork
This was a trip to connect with a BA trip to Las Vegas (and yes, the TR is done and is about to be/has just been posted.) I was using Flight Connections to T5 and our arrival was on the second day of EI’s move from T1. Aer Lingus seem to be using gates A21-26 which face the runway but not the one facing the hotels on the Bath Road. When we arrived, we had to walk upstairs, along a corridor parallel to the runway, downstairs (and I can’t remember if we went up an escalator again) It was a long walk, with loos and drinking fountains along the way and eventually we reached an area where there were signs for Border Control to the left and for Flight Connections to the right. The Border Control area was tensa-ed - and at this stage was deserted. Most of the passengers went in that direction but I headed right for the escalator down to Flight Connections where there are three doors; one for buses to T3, one for T4 and one for T5. What struck me about it was the long walk although there was lots of natural light, wide corridors and loos along the way.
Inbound to Cork
The bus from T5 brought me to T2 directly but some go to T1 first. We arrived at a point a few metres before the boarding point I mentioned above and going up the escalator found myself along the same corridor I had walked along ten days earlier. However when I got to the point of Border Control/Flight Connections there was a sign for straight ahead for connections in T2 and also T1. At the end of the corridor, one went right for T1 and to the left for T2. There was a security check where the boarding pass was scanned and photo taken as well a having hand luggage scanned. This brought you immediately into the departure lounge where there were a few airline desks at the entrance. It was bright and airy with plenty of seating and at regular intervals, charging points for phones, laptops etc. There were plenty of places to eat around the perimeter as well as Boots and the ubiquitous WH Smith. There seemed to be a mezzanine area with shops but I did not investigate them. I spent some time charging my phone and iPad before going to the gate area which for EI is parallel to the runway and very pleasant. Mind you anything would be better than the awful departure gates in T1! Halfway down the corridor is a multi-faith prayer room and (from the sublime to the ridiculous) loos. At the gate when boarding is when your boarding pass is re-scanned and your photo is verified. It does slow down the boarding process but it also acts as a bit of crowd control in the jetway.
Second trip:
Outbound from Cork
This flight was terminating in LHR. We arrived at the same gate as before and I prepared myself for the same long walk as three weeks previously. It was not to be. Once off the jetway we followed signs for baggage claim as before but instead of turning off to the right we went straight ahead and immediately were in the baggage hall complete with carousels! This hadn’t happened before! Because I had only hand luggage I looked for an exit and there it was in front of me and within seconds I was in the Arrivals Hall with all the guys with their signs looking for Mr X, Y and Z. I was puzzled but when I thought about it, it made perfect sense. Ireland is part of the Common Travel Area and in T1, although we had our own carousels, we walked off the plane straight to them and then through to an area where the domestic carousels were located. No Border Control for us. All I could think of was that it was early teething problems, although I did wonder if they had all followed me lemming-like as I made my way to Flight Connections as I had been one of the first off the plane. Then I remembered there were a few people ahead of me so I wasn't the Pied Piper of London!
To get to taxis and buses one has to cross a walkway bridge which leads to lifts to take you down to the areas where the taxis and the hotel and car park buses depart. As I was going to visit a relative in Hillingdon Hospital before my final destination in London I had time to kill and decided to have something to eat. There are really only Costa Coffee places, an M&S food place and others similar so I headed up to Departures as there was a Wetherspoons and a couple of other eateries. It was a typical Wetherspoons but then I didn’t expect 5* food. The better dining places were airside. Inbound to Cork
My trip to LHR was by London Underground and early enough on a Sunday morning the Piccadilly Line was nice and empty once the tourists had got off at South Ken (well apart from the crowd who got on there en route to Knightsbridge!!
) ). Arriving at LHR, the area was familiar to anyone who has arrived there by the Tube. When coming from T1 and arriving at the station you go right for T3 and left for T2. Coming off the Underground it’s right once you are in the main concourse then right for T3 and left for T2 (in other words the old walkway to T2 although poshed up fit to beat the band y) ) As an aside, coming and going to the Heathrow Express is along the same route - there is no direct link to the HEX in T2 (as I discovered as you will find out in my TR ): ). Once in the T2 area there is a lift to Departures and a walkway over to the main T2 building. Aer Lingus (and Little Red) check-in is in the C area almost just ahead of the entrance into the departures area. It is Little Red ready. The desks announce it will open on September 10 and the check-in kiosks feature both Aer Lingus and Little Red. y) I was unable to use the kiosk (as was also true in Cork, probably because my original flight had been cancelled) but the check-in area was fine and just alongside the way to security. The entrance to security is spacious with areas to place your carry-on bags to enable you to remove your liquids bag and there are people patrolling the area with bags in case they are needed. Once ready, you scan your boarding pass and have your photo taken (just as in T1) before heading to security which was the most efficient one I have ever experienced. There were footprints on the floor for three passengers in front of the area where you load your belongings and people seemed to respect it and waited to be called forward! Whether that continues when T2 becomes fully operational remains to be seen but it was refreshing and the security guys seemed to appreciate it. Once through you arrived on the mezzanine level which had another range of shops including Ted Baker (an airport regular) and John Lewis!!! OK, so you can’t buy a television, or a kitchen or a length of material but they did have a nice but small collection of clothing and household goods. There was also a Dixons (quelle surprise!), WH Smith, Boots, a couple of eateries that I can’t remember and a few other things I can’t remember. At the moment the flights that are using T2 are United, Air Canada, Swiss and Aegean. Swiss, United and Air Canada seem to be using the B gates which seem to be some way away but T2 really needs to look at its signage as this was seen at gates 21-26. After that, it was as I described before.
From my perspective, I love T2 but then when you’ve spent the last God-knows-how-long in the awful tubes that the ROI flights use even the worst parts of T3 are infinitely better. OK there are still things to be sorted and whether it will be still as smooth when it gets fully operational remains to be seen.