Heathrow Airport Limited’s business plan for the next five years (April 2014-2019, also known as Q6) includes an additional Personal Rapid Transit (PRT) system. The proposed system which will run from Terminals 2 & 3 out to the terminal’s own particular business car parks will aid Heathrow Airport Limited in its vision to create a far simpler Central Terminal Area for passengers.
The new Personal Rapid Transit (PRT) system will be the second installed at Heathrow. The currently operational system connects the Terminal 5 Business Car Park with Terminal 5 and is hugely successful. The system has been operational since May 2011 has carried over 600,000 passengers to date, has removed the need for 70,000 bus journeys on Heathrow’s roads each year and has maintained availability figures of around 99.7%.
In response to the news, Ultra Global Managing Director Fraser Brown commented, ‘We are thrilled to hear of Heathrow’s inclusion of a further PRT system in Q6, the success of Heathrow POD has demonstrated the huge potential in PRT to deliver an effective sustainable first/last mile solution around campus locations such as airports as well as providing a distributor service from ‘heavier’ transport interchanges such as rail stations. It is an endorsement of the Ultra system that less than two years after opening the world’s first airport PRT system, Heathrow wants to build more.’
The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) will now publish a consultation on their initial proposals for aeronautical charges at Heathrow before making a final decision in January 2014. The Q6 Period will begin in April 2014 and run through to 2019.
The full Heathrow Airport Limited Q6 Business Plan can be found here.
