AIRPORT operator BAA will not be taking fingerprints of passengers using Heathrow's £4.3 billion Terminal 5 (T5), which opens today, following doubts over the legality of such a move.
BAA had hoped to fingerprint T5 domestic-flight passengers and international passengers transferring on to domestic flights at the west London airport from the start of business at the new terminal.
But the Information Commissioner's Office was co
ncerned that fingerprinting might breach the Data Protection Act.
BAA confirmed last night: "Following a meeting with all relevant parties, including the Information Commissioner and the Border and Immigration Agency, the introduction of fingerprinting for domestic passengers and international passengers transferring on to domestic flights at Heathrow will be temporarily delayed.
"BAA will be opening Terminal 5 using a photographic identification process during this time, which is already in place. We will be working closely with the Information Commissioner and the Home Office over the next few weeks to agree the best approach going forward."
BAA and the carrier British Airways, which has exclusive use of the new terminal, will be hopeful that this is the only hitch to hit the T5 opening. But they have warned that it might take time for the new terminal to "bed down". The terminal, officially opened by the Queen this year, will be capable of handling 30 million passengers a year.
Bitterly opposed by local residents and environmental campaign groups, T5 has been built following a record-breaking and costly four-year public inquiry, which ran from 1995 to 1999.
The first scheduled departure from T5 is the 6:20am flight BA302 to Paris. A further 380 flights will then depart or arrive from the terminal during its first day.
The full article contains 292 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
