Amazing ..but do we need it? EXCLUSIVE IT'S COST pounds 4.3BILLION AND BEEN 26 YEARS IN THE PIPELINE... THE AIRLINE INDUSTRY LOVES IT BUT CAMPAIGNERS HATE IT. HEATHROW'S TERMINAL 5 IS...

Byline: By DAMIEN FLETCHER

IT is an awe-inspiring temple to the twin gods of air travel and shopping.

When Heathrow's new Terminal 5 opens on March 27, it will be the world's most advanced airport facility, and the largest free-standing building in Britain.

You could comfortably lay three Empire State Buildings end-to-end in its main hall...

More than 30 million people will pass through it every year, their bags processed at the rate of 12,000 per hour at 140 check-in desks.

It has taken 26 years for T5 to go from initial plans to concrete, steel and glass reality and, in that time, every aspect of the airport experience has been considered and refined.

Trees, artworks and museum exhibitions will share the vast space with 144 upmarket stores and dining options, from fast food to a plush Gordon Ramsay restaurant.

But while few could deny the sheer grandeur of T5, there are plenty of dissenting voices, asking: Do we actually need it?

The gleaming pounds 4.3billion project will ease air traffic congestion, reduce queues and provide passengers with more space and comfort, according to BAA.

But critics have dismissed it as an environmentally unfriendly excuse for a giant shopping mall.

Mark Bullock, managing director of BAA Heathrow, is keen to defend his incredibly expensive expansion.

He says: "Terminal 5 will provide us with the additional capacity we vitally need to transform Heathrow.

"However much you invest, buildings suffer when you have 68 million people travelling through an airport designed for 45 million."

But John Stewart, who runs the Heathrow Association for the Control of Aircraft Noise, believes it is just an excuse to cash in on stranded passengers. "We have no problem with good terminal facilities for passengers," he says. "But let's face it, Terminal 5 was largely built to increase the retail profits of BAA.

"The extra terminal capacity simply allows more planes to come in - adding to the deafening racket."

BAA claims that without the shops, air fares would increase. Mr Bullock says: "Revenues from shopping allow BAA to keep landing fees down and enable us to invest in infrastructure. And passengers enjoy the shopping experience."

British Airways will be the only airline operating from the new terminal and BA chief executive Willie Walsh says: "Our customers are going to really enjoy the space, comfort and convenience it offers."

But Tony Bosworth, of Friends Of The Earth, warns that T5 is bad news for the environment.

He says: "Flights will increase and more carbon dioxide is pumped out in aviation emissions.

"It is completely at odds with the government's long-term commitment to address climate change."

David Learmont, of Flight International magazine, believes T5 will be better for the environment.

He says: "Extra capacity means that, with a third runway which Gordon Brown is about to approve, we lose the problem of aircraft sitting with their engines running because there's nowhere to park.

"Heathrow will become a first-class airport again - which has to be good for passengers."

THE TR ACKED TR ANSIT SYSTEM

THE three buildings of Terminal 5 have an underground link - the tracked transit system. Six driverless vehicles will move 6,500 passengers per hour between buildings A and B at 31mph, a journey of 45 seconds. The vehicles will run along two tracks through parallel tunnels every 90 seconds.

50 full-size football pitches could fit into Terminal 5's five floors

68 MILLION people travel through Heathrow every year at the moment. It was designed for 45 million passengers

30 MILLION is the number of passengers Terminal 5 will accommodate every year

12,000 bags per hour will be handled

6,317 SQ METRES is the size of the roof

400,000 The number of man-hours spent developing the terminal's computer software

600 beds will be in a new luxury hotel and convention centre

80% of the terminal's passengers will use on line check-in facilities or self-service kiosks

STEEL AND GLASS

T5A measures 396 metres long by 176m wide and 40m high, making it the largest single-span structure in the UK.

T5B measures 442m long by 52m wide and 19.5m high.

80,000 tonnes of steel were used in the main building.

22 huge steel legs hold up the roof of the main building.

There are 17,000 tonnes of steel in the roof - weighing the equivalent of 2,833 bull elephants.

Each 117m-long rafter section of T5A's roof weighs the same as 600 Land Rovers.

30,000sq m of glass were used for the 5,500 glass panels in the main building.

Two rivers were diverted around the perimeter of the terminal site.

THE NEW TERMINAL WILL HAVE..

144 shops and restaurants

3,800 extra car parking spaces

11 baggage reclaim belts

18km of conveyor belts operating at one to two metres per second and driven by 8,500 electric motors

60 aircraft stands

142 lifts

94escalators

4,000 semi-mature trees and shrubs, 30,000 native woodland plants, 250,000 evergreen groundcover shrubs and 2,000 metres of hedgerow 

A 6-PL ATFORM station serving the He athrow Express and Piccadilly Line.

36 cranes operating in a 4,000 space bag store

13.5km of bored tunnels including the 1.3kmlong Airside Road Tunnel - the UK's seventh longest rail tunnel

Voice of the Mirror: Page 8

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CAPTION(S):

MAGNIFICENT: Terminal 5 is the longest single span building in the UK Pictures: DAVID DYSON; HIGH SPEED: The baggage hall will handle 12,000 bags an hour; SPACE AGE: One of the terminal's ultra-modern transit vehicles