Tour Log 1: London (Heathrow) Airport
Thursday 10 April 2008
Isn’t it funny how the gods of travel manage to lull you into a false sense of security before they send everything pear-shaped and have a big giggle at your expense? A hassle-free exit from Sydney, including the now traditional performance of Waltzing Matilda (with the original words pre-dating the more familiar Billy Tea version), was followed by a drama-free flight, a quick stopover in Singapore, and a tired but intact and on-time arrival at Heathrow.
So here we were thinking how smoothly things were going, no kids lost en route, no instruments left in transit lounges (despite a couple of narrow escapes – but no names, no pack drill) and everyone well-behaved and following instructions to the letter. At Heathrow, we had even managed to transfer from our arrival terminal over to Terminal 5 without any mishaps apart from having to get our boarding passes for Prague re-issued for the three consecutive flights our group had been split up into.
“Oh”, I hear you say, “why does ‘Terminal 5’ sound familiar?”. I will tell you why. It’s the huge new terminal at Heathrow dedicated to British Airways that was opened only a couple of weeks ago, with much hoopla and general rejoicing amongst the flying masses. It was hailed as the answer to all of those passenger handling problems and bottlenecks for which Heathrow has been famous.
That was before 19,000 pieces of luggage went missing in the first week.
It turns out that Terminal 5 is really the Bermuda Triangle, rebadged and moved to the outskirts of London. It’s called a “Terminal” because it’s the end of the line for your suitcase.
Yes, but we are the fearless SACS Brigade, aren’t we? We fed our bags and instruments into the maw of Terminal 5 with a carefree smile and nary a backward glance. We laughed in the face of luggage danger, and sought the bubble reputation even in the carousel’s mouth!
There was a lull before the storm. Then came the phone call from Prague.
Some of us staff and parents were relaxing in Terminal 5, right near Gordon Ramsay’s Plane Food Restaurant, awaiting the departure of the second and third flights, and enjoying some coffee and a light lunch, when Richard Starr (who had flown out with the first group) rang Chris Belshaw from Prague Airport to say that nine of the instruments and all of the personal luggage had failed to arrive with the first group. A-a-a-aaarrrgh! BA Customer Service in Terminal 5 adopted the shrug-the-shoulders approach – I mean, what’s another 40 suitcases and nine instruments when you have already lost 19,000 pieces of baggage?
So now, after the departure of our second contingent, I am one of the three tail-enders (along with the Kightleys) waiting for the third flight to Prague. Here I sit alone, hunched over my computer, clutching my carry-on bag close to me, at the complete mercy of Terminal 5, while the Kightleys are off sightseeing in London for a few hours. I am wondering if I will have a suitcase when I get to Prague, and whether Chris will have to rewrite the whole performance schedule for a 34 member a capella group.
Stay tuned for the next exciting episode of SACS Tours: The Revenge of Terminal 5...
