Heathrow Terminal 4 gets communal Skyteam facilities

Heathrow Business lounge

Global airline alliance SkyTeam will build a new facility with shared check-in and reservation options for passengers when its members move under one roof at Heathrow's Terminal 4. It will be completed in spring 2009, with a common check-in area that will include self-service kiosks allowing alliance passengers to access travel reservations with any of the ten member carriers at the airport.

There will also be additional bag drop-off points and check-in desks, all of which will improve passenger flow through the terminal. The alliance's move to its new home begins this March, when US members - Continental, Delta and Northwest - join KLM and Kenya Airways at the terminal, together flying 11 daily services between London and the USA. It will then be a year until the rest - Aeroflot, Air France, Alitalia, Czech Airlines and Korean Air - join them.

BAA is spending £100m on expanding and renovating T4 as part of its whole airport relocation project, and is working closely with SkyTeam, which is investing in this facility itself. BAA's improvements will include a redeveloped forecourt, and "new and refurbished CIP lounges which will enable airlines to develop their business product".