LONDON (AFP) — Queen Elizabeth II is to unveil a new terminal at London's main Heathrow airport Friday, the day after a major security breach disrupted flights.
Terminal Five (T5) will be able to handle 30 million passengers a year, and opens as campaigners step up protests over plans for a third runway at the airport.
It was unclear if Thursday's alert, in which a man scaled a perimeter fence and ran on to a runway, was designed as a protest. Police carried out a controlled explosion of two bags dropped by the man.
But security will be tight for Friday's ceremony with the queen, after threats by campaigners to stage a new demonstration timed with the terminal's opening to the public.
The 81-year-old monarch opened the first passenger terminal at the site west of London in 1955. She will cut the ribbon on the new facility 15 years after airport operator BAA submitted its first planning application.
Construction of T5, which will open to passengers on March 27, has taken nearly six years and cost some 4.3 billion pounds to build.
The new building has involved the construction of 13 miles of tunnels, 10 miles of baggage conveyor belts, and the extension of the Piccadilly Tube line to transport passengers to and from central London.
"It will breathe new life into Heathrow, allowing us to continue our transformation of the rest of the airport," said BAA chairman Nigel Rudd.
Heathrow is already one of the world's biggest airports, but has for years been plagued by overcrowding in its hotch-potch of ageing buildings due to soaring demand for air travel.
The new terminal will handle around 30 million passengers a year, and will be solely used by British Airways which will transfer operations there from other terminals. Heathrow currently handles 68 million passengers a year.
The government and BAA want to build a third runway at Heathrow but are facing strong opposition from environmentalists, some local people and even London's mayor, Ken Livingstone, on pollution and congestion grounds.
Greenpeace activists breached security at Heathrow last month, staging a demonstration on top of a jet against the planned new runway.
Three days later, protesters from a group called Plane Stupid made headlines when they managed to get on to the top of parliament.
Another group, No Third Runway Action Group, says it plans "flash mob" protests at the March 27 opening, according to their website.
Rudd defended the third runway plans Friday, telling BBC radio: "We have to compete in the world. The nation has to decide whether we want to be a world class nation or a second-class nation."
A further four billion pounds will be spent in the coming years to knock down the ageing terminals one and two to make way for a new terminal, which will use 40 percent less energy, he added.
Airline bosses say the new terminal, which covers an area roughly the size of London's Hyde Park at the western edge of the sprawling airport site, is essential to cope with rising demand.
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