Terminal 5 is British Airways' Heathrow home and the busiest single terminal we collect from. It is also the one where passengers most often underestimate the time between landing and being in a car — because a T5 arrival is frequently not a T5A arrival.
The bit people forget: the satellites
Terminal 5 has three buildings. T5A is the main one, attached to everything. T5B and T5C are satellites reached by an underground transit train.
If your aircraft parks at a B or C gate, you walk to the transit, wait for it, ride it, and then start the walk to immigration. That is 10 to 20 minutes before you reach the queue you were expecting to join. Long-haul arrivals use the satellites often.
You do not know which building you are in until you land. Plan for the longer version.
Realistic timings, wheels-down to kerbside
- UK or EU arrival, hand luggage only, T5A: 15 to 25 minutes.
- Long-haul, hold luggage, T5A: 45 to 75 minutes.
- Long-haul, hold luggage, T5B or T5C: 60 to 110 minutes.
- A full A380 or 777 landing at the same time as two others: the top of every range above.
The variable that moves most is immigration. eGates are quick when they are working and when your document qualifies; the staffed desks at 06:00, when a bank of long-haul arrivals lands together, are not.
Where we meet you
In the T5 arrivals hall, with a name board. Not the kerb, not the short-stay car park, not a text message telling you to walk somewhere.
Give us the flight number when you book and we take the terminal from the flight itself, so an aircraft that gets re-gated to another terminal — which happens more often than passengers think — is our problem to solve, not yours.
The first 60 minutes of waiting after landing is included. That covers the ordinary long-haul case comfortably and the satellite case adequately.
If you would rather skip the meet-and-greet and be picked up at the kerb, say so when you book. It saves a few minutes and a fee, and it works well if you are travelling light and know the terminal.
The drop-off charge, going the other way
Heathrow charges every vehicle that enters the terminal forecourt. We pass that through at cost and show it as its own line on the booking form rather than folding it into the fare, so you can see what is a fee and what is the journey.
There is a free alternative: the Park and Ride, with a free shuttle bus running every ten to twenty minutes and a five to ten minute ride. For a departure with time in hand it saves the charge; for a tight connection it is not worth it. The booking form offers both.
There is more on how airport charges work across the UK in airport drop-off charges explained.
Which terminal is yours?
British Airways uses T5 for most long-haul and much short-haul, but not all — some BA short-haul runs from T3, and codeshares can be anywhere. Iberia and a few oneworld partners also use T5.
The flight number is the reliable answer and the airline's app is the reliable source. We use the flight number rather than the airline for exactly this reason.
Our other terminal guides: Terminal 2 vs Terminal 5, Terminal 3, Terminal 4.
Onward from T5
Terminal 5 sits at the western end of Heathrow, which makes it the quickest terminal to leave heading west — straight onto the M25 southbound for the M3 and the south coast. Southampton is about 67 miles and 1 hour 26 minutes in typical traffic, on a pre-set route price that does not move for the traffic.
If you are heading for a cruise, read Heathrow to Southampton Cruise Terminal as well — the terminal and dock gate matter more than the drive.
Book a T5 pickup at book.fare1.co.uk.