Heathrow Terminal 5 map: the main building, the satellites, and the connectors

Terminal 5 is one terminal across three airside buildings, not three separate terminals. The chain runs T5A in the centre, then T5B, then T5C, with all three linked underground by a transit train and a pedestrian tunnel. The main building T5A holds check-in, security, the immigration and baggage halls, and gates A1 to A23 on a single broad airside concourse. T5B is the first satellite with gates B32 to B48; T5C is the second satellite with gates C52 to C66 and seven dedicated A380 stands. Roughly 55 numbered gate positions in total across the three buildings, though a few slots in the satellite ranges are not in regular passenger use.

The two satellites are airside-only. There is no landside entrance to either, and there is no immigration or baggage hall at either; everyone clears security in T5A on the way out, and everyone clears immigration and collects bags back in T5A on the way in, regardless of which building the aircraft uses. The gate number on the boarding pass tells you which building you need: A in T5A, B in T5B, C in T5C.

British Airways and Iberia are the only airlines that operate from T5; both are IAG sister carriers and members of oneworld. No third airline uses the building. Iberia runs Madrid and onward connections; British Airways runs virtually every one of its 180-plus Heathrow routes, long-haul and short-haul, from across the three buildings. For the operational view (airline detail, transport to T5, parking, security, lounge access rules), see the Terminal 5 page; this page covers the physical layout only.

Terminal 5 uses more level numbers than any other Heathrow terminal because of the rail station, the transit train, and the pedestrian walkway that all sit underneath the building. The scheme follows Heathrow's own signage. From the top down:

• Level 4: the BA Galleries lounges (Galleries First, Galleries Club North and South) and the Concorde Room, above the central concourse.
• Level 3: the check-in concourse, the kerbside drop-off forecourt, and the departures entrance. The BA First Wing has its own landside entrance and private security on this level for First Class passengers and BA Executive Club Gold members.
• Level 2: the airside departures concourse and the A-gates (A1 to A23), the Plaza Premium Lounge, and most of the shops and dining.
• Level 1: flight connections, for passengers transferring airside between flights.
• Level 0: arrivals, the immigration hall (eGates and staffed desks), the baggage reclaim hall on belts 1 to 10, customs, the meeting point, and the buses and taxis at ground level.
• Level -1: the escalator interchange between the concourses above and the stations below.
• Level -2: the transit train to T5B and T5C, and the Piccadilly Line Underground.
• Level -3: the Heathrow Express and Elizabeth Line platforms; the rail station runs across levels -2 and -3.
• Level -4: the pedestrian walkway to T5B and T5C, with travellators.

Check-in is on level 3 and the gates are a level below on level 2; arrivals come out at ground level, level 0. A reader with a B or C gate goes down from the airside concourse to level -2 for the transit train or level -4 for the walkway. The Terminal 5 multi-storey car park has its own Parking Levels 2 to 6, a separate building, not floors of the terminal.

The A-gates wrap around the airside concourse in T5A. From the security exit, walking time to a gate is typically 5 to 10 minutes depending on which side of the concourse it is on. Lower-numbered gates (A1 to A8) sit closer to security; mid-range gates (A9 to A17) are along the middle and far perimeter; gates A18 to A23 sit furthest from security, on the far side of the central core.

The orientation landmark in the centre of the concourse is the descent point to the transit train and the pedestrian tunnel, between gates A14 and A15. Both connectors start from the same cluster of lifts and escalators, signed for the B and C gates. The BA Galleries lounges sit on level 4 above this central core, with the BA First Wing landside entrance providing an alternative check-in and security route for First passengers and Executive Club Gold members.

Lower numbers tend to be used for short-haul European departures and the A380 wide-body operations have priority for the C-gates, but the gate assignment per flight is driven by aircraft type and operational demand rather than fixed rules. The boarding pass is the definite source.

The two airside satellites are reached only from the central core in T5A, between gates A14 and A15. Two underground connectors run from there to T5B and onward to T5C, on different levels.

The transit train at level -2 is the default. It is automated, driverless, and runs in dedicated tunnels at around 30 miles per hour. Service every three to four minutes, 24 hours a day, with a ride of around three minutes out to T5C; T5B is the first stop. Stations are step-free with platform doors aligned to the train doors at every stop. Door-to-door from the airside concourse, allow around 5 minutes including the wait.

The pedestrian tunnel at level -4 is two levels below the train. Access it by taking the same lift down past the transit station to the lowest level, then walking the tunnel end-to-end. Travellators cover about half the length, so the walk takes 5 to 10 minutes between T5A and T5C with a stop at T5B in between. The tunnel is the reliable backup when the train queue is long at peak, when there are short-term train suspensions, or when you simply prefer to walk. Both options are airside, free, and step-free.

British Airways officially advises allowing 20 min from security in T5A to a gate at T5B or T5C. The figure covers the level changes down from the airside concourse, the connector journey, and the walk through the satellite to your gate. The 20-minute allowance applies in either direction and to either connector. For the deeper view of the satellite buildings themselves, including which flights typically use each and the gate-by-gate detail, see the T5B and T5C satellites page.

T5B sits roughly 600 metres north of T5A and holds gates B32 to B48. The building opened with the rest of Terminal 5 on 27 March 2008. T5B handles a mix of long-haul departures (BA wide-bodies when T5C is full) and a regular block of short-haul narrow-body services, including some Dublin and European departures. There is no immigration, no baggage reclaim, and no check-in at T5B; all of that is back in T5A. The transit train station on level -2 sits in the centre of the building, with lifts up to the airside concourse and down to the level -4 pedestrian tunnel.

The airside concourse at T5B has a smaller cluster of food, shops, and seating than T5A, plus one BA lounge (the BA Galleries Club Lounge T5B). The smaller scale is fine for a wait at the gate, but for the full retail and food choice, browse the main concourse in T5A before riding the train. Deeper coverage of which routes use T5B and what is inside the building sits on the T5 satellites page.

T5C sits further north along the chain, beyond T5B. The building opened on 1 June 2011 and holds gates C52 to C66. T5C is mostly long-haul wide-body operations, with the seven dedicated A380 stands the most distinctive feature; these stands are the only ones at Heathrow sized specifically for the A380, and they are the reason BA's superjumbo services to Los Angeles, San Francisco, Singapore, Hong Kong, Johannesburg, and Washington usually depart from here. Boeing 777 and Airbus A350 wide-bodies on routes to North America, the Middle East, and Asia also operate from T5C when capacity demands it.

The airside concourse at T5C has a similar shape to T5B: a smaller cluster of shops and food than T5A, one BA lounge (BA Galleries Club Lounge T5C), and seating clusters near each gate. Walking time from the transit station to the furthest gate at T5C is 3 to 5 minutes. As with T5B, anyone wanting the full Terminal 5 retail offer should browse T5A before riding the train. Deeper coverage sits on the T5 satellites page.

Terminal 5 has the largest lounge cluster at Heathrow after T3, with the main BA lounges in T5A on level 4 above the central concourse and one additional BA lounge in each satellite.

• BA Galleries First: in T5A on level 4, accessed via the First Wing or the central core lifts. For First Class passengers, oneworld Emerald, and BA Executive Club Gold travelling on a long-haul booking.
• BA Concorde Room: in T5A on level 4, reached via the First Wing. The flagship BA lounge, for First Class on long-haul plus Concorde Room cardholders.
• BA Galleries Club North and South: two separate Club lounges on level 4 in T5A, sized to handle the BA Club Europe and Club World volume. The current BA renovation programme that began in October 2025 is rolling through these lounges in phases.
• Plaza Premium Lounge: the paid-entry and Priority Pass option, on level 2 in T5A. The only non-BA airline lounge in T5A.
• BA Galleries Club Lounge T5B: in the airside concourse of T5B, for Club passengers on flights departing from a B-gate.
• BA Galleries Club Lounge T5C: equivalent of T5B's lounge, in the airside concourse of T5C. T5C has no First-tier lounge; passengers entitled to a First lounge use the Concorde Room or Galleries First in T5A before riding the train.

Lounge access rules, opening hours, and reviews are on the parent Terminal 5 page; this section covers position only.

The bulk of the Terminal 5 retail and food cluster sits on the main concourse in T5A around the central plaza. The World Duty Free flagship anchors the centre, with the largest luxury retail presence at Heathrow (Cartier, Tiffany & Co., Bulgari, Burberry, Mulberry, Gucci, Prada, plus the only Harrods outside Knightsbridge). Sit-down restaurants, bars, and quick-food spread around the plaza on level 2 and into the upper level above. Chain quick-food fills in around the perimeter.

The two satellites have smaller retail and food offers built around the central airside concourse in each building. T5B has a compact cluster (Marks & Spencer Food, a WHSmith, a Pret, a Costa, and a bar). T5C has a similar cluster plus a sit-down restaurant near the centre. Both satellites are fine for grabbing a coffee or a sandwich at the gate, but the full T5 shopping and food choice is in T5A. Eat and shop in the main building before the train if you have time.

Quieter seating tends to sit at the far ends of the satellites, particularly at T5C, away from both the transit station and the busiest gates. The central plaza in T5A around the World Duty Free is the busiest part of the building at the morning long-haul departure peak.

Arriving aircraft can park at any of the three buildings. From a gate in T5A, the route to baggage runs down to level 0: airbridge or bus to the immigration hall, the eGate bank and the staffed desks, then the baggage reclaim hall on the same level, then customs, then out into the arrivals concourse and the meeting point. From a satellite gate, the route is longer by the transit train segment back to T5A, then the same sequence on level 0. Add 10 to 15 minutes to the normal arrivals timing for a satellite arrival.

The baggage reclaim hall in T5A has 10 belts and the belt for your flight is shown on the overhead screens in the immigration hall and the baggage hall. Bags appear on the belt 15 to 20 minutes after the aircraft is on stand, with the last bags 40 minutes or longer after a full long-haul wide-body. The airline's ground handling agent (Menzies for BA at T5) runs the operation; the agent's desk inside the baggage hall handles missing, damaged, or delayed bag reports.

The meeting point sits at the back of the arrivals hall on level 0, signed from the baggage hall exit, behind the Costa Coffee. From the meeting point, lifts run down to the rail station on levels -2 and -3, or out to the forecourt at the same level for taxis, buses, the Sofitel London Heathrow walkway, and the Heathrow Pod arrival point that links to the T5 business car park.

The Heathrow Terminal 5 rail station sits under T5A on levels -2 and -3, below the escalator interchange on level -1. The station has three operating platforms: Heathrow Express, which terminates at T5 (the only Heathrow terminal where it does); the Elizabeth Line, with around two trains an hour running east to Shenfield via central London; and the Piccadilly Line, the deep Tube branch from central London. A fourth platform exists as a built shell for a future heavy-rail service that has not yet been brought into use.

Lifts and escalators from the platforms run up to level 0 for the arrivals hall and up to level 3 for the check-in concourse. Travel between Heathrow stations on Heathrow Express and the Elizabeth Line is free as long as you stay within the airport (tap in and tap out with contactless or Oyster), useful when a connection lands at T2 or T3 and the onward flight is at T5 or vice versa. The Piccadilly Line is also free between Heathrow stations on the same tap-in tap-out basis.

For each rail service in detail, including fares, schedules, and the booking pages, see the Heathrow trains hub at /train; this section is about where the station sits on the T5 map, not how each service runs.

Terminal 5 is not walkable from any other Heathrow terminal. The free Flight Connections coach is the airside option for connecting passengers on a single ticket with through-checked bags; it runs every 6 to 10 minutes and links all four terminals. Landside, the options are Heathrow Express (free between T5 and the central station, around 6 minutes; through to T4 it requires the Elizabeth Line shuttle), the Elizabeth Line between Heathrow stations (free within the airport, one stop between T5 and the central T2/T3 station and via that change to T4 on the Abbey Wood branch), or the Piccadilly Line direct to any Heathrow station.

The free inter-terminal coach is the road alternative, useful when the rail services are disrupted or for passengers with large amounts of luggage. The coach links T5 to the central area in roughly 15 minutes. For the door-to-door bands on every terminal pair, see getting between Heathrow's terminals; the airport-wide schematic is on the airport-wide Heathrow map.